Elisa Ginter
Celebration of LifeMy husband, Bernardo, always jested that he wanted to have his funeral before he died so that he could enjoy what everyone was saying about him and visit with those that he deeply cared about but often didnâ??t get the opportunity to see. He felt that a funeral should be a celebration of a life, rather than a morning of oneâ??s death.From the moment I met my husband Bernardo, I was mesmerized by his charm and unique disposition. His smile was infectious and his playful humor was a welcomed change from the mundane. Education was an important concept for Bernardo- both personally and professionally. When I met him, He was in the process of writing his phD dissertation while working full time for the state of Michigan as a Bilingual consultant for all the school systems in Michigan. Born and raised in Chile, Spanish was his first language and French was his second. English came in at third and then there was some Italian, Portuguese, German, Latin, and a little Hebrew. He knew a lot about art history and often when we went to an art museum he would end up teaching the docents about the meaning of the artwork rather than the other way around. He was well versed in literature and poetry- he had read and studied Shakespeare and all the classics and was himself a superb writer of poetry and short story. He told me that Pablo Neruda, a Chilean Poet and 1971 Nobel Prize winner in literature, had read some of his work and encouraged him to continue to write, telling him that he had â??great potentialâ?. Unfortunately, the politics in Chile did not lend themselves well to Bernardoâ??s ideas of equality for all people and after going to the US to complete a masterâ??s degree, he found that it was not safe for him to return home. As his Visa was running out, he took the first PhD program that would not create a gap in his education and jeopardize his stay in the US and so he ended up in Lansing, Michigan where I eventually met him while attending a Hillel fundraiser. As my first cousin, Wendy, remembers it, â??When Judy, (my mom), gushed about Elisaâ??s new boyfriend Bernardo, her joy was effusive and seemed a bit over the top. Frankly we doubted that anyone could be that great and thought that our hardworking and smart cousin Elisa was being swept off her feet by some older Latin Don Juan, and we worried that the relationship might interfere with her goal of becoming a doctor. However, upon meeting Bernardo, he was every bit as handsome and charming as described. He really listened and made everyone feel special. His optimism was contagious; he always had time for others and was a supportive and loving husband to Elisa.â?Bernardo taught me how to dress professionally and bought me my first womenâ??s suit as well as helped me pick out blouses to match. He wrote poems to me and my favorite thing was when he would translate Spanish songs on the radio into English for me to understand their meaning. Although he could not get the hang of the disco fever moves or the â??swingâ? â?? he was a hot Latin dancer. I remember when we were first married (in 1984) that we were at a dance club and after we danced the night away he got an offer to try out for the â??foxy Frenchmenâ? which was a prototype all male strip revue! We had what would become our last dance on December 16th, 2013 when Bernardo proudly let go of his walker to sway to a romantic Latin song with me in his arms. It wasnâ??t of the caliber that we were used to dancing in years gone by, but I remember I had tears in my eyes because I realized how hard it was for him to try to dance but how very happy it made him. That night he told Daniel and I, â??how could I not have a wonderful time- I saw the sunset, had a beautiful view of the city and danced with my wifeâ?.