Remembering Rosalee

THE HUNDRETH ADVENTURE

What a nice day to die

Here, where trees breathe together

Their branches shaping Hello

Here, where feet make songs 

on the earth of the beautiful everything

we dance a thank you

to unnamed meadows

Here, where the miracle of water, earth and sky mix

We have spoken to sky people

And they have answered in sunshine

What a nice day to begin again

- Rosalee

Rosalee Gurrola Thompson
September 16, 1950-May 30, 2013

My friend Rosalee is being laid to rest today.  She passed last Thursday from pancreatic cancer.  The cancer took her very quickly, and much too soon.

She will be mourned by all who knew her, including the Whittier Community Theatre group who worked with her for a few decades and loved her dearly.

My friend Roxie writes:

I can’t really imagine that such a great soul is gone.  It will hit me at some point.  She was such a fine person, such an glowing, practicing example of what we should all strive to be.  I know there is a bigger picture in which it all makes sense, but from here….

Rosalee was one of those people who always gave you a hug when she saw you, asked with genuine interest how you were doing, and was kind to everyone.

When I first started doing shows at the community theatre back in the 1980s, people were still talking about Rosalee's wonderful performance as Bloody Mary in South Pacific. She was a terrific actress with a lot of heart who shone brightly on the stage. She went on to play many other roles, including Mrs. Paroo in The Music Man and one of the nuns in The Sound of Music.

Rosalee in 2010 with her certificate

Rosalee was also a poet.  She was the winner of the San Gabriel Valley Poetry Festival Broadside Contest in 2010.  The beautiful and thought-provoking poem above, The Hundreth Adventure, appears in the memory card which was provided for those who attended her wake and funeral.

Here is her winning entry for the Poetry Contest:

HERE IS YOUR SKYMAP

I bury 7 endangered poet's books

under my plum tree every full moon

Their wild words whisper

while I try to sleep

Hold The Voice That is Great Within Us

to the Center

of your head

My bed's in the air

The moon's eyes are purple plums

My arms hold a bouquet of trees

A white bird flies by

with a gold key in her mouth
- Rosalee

Rosalee (in the violet hoodie) at the 2010 San Gabriel Valley Poetry Festival

Rosalee is survived by her husband Dean, her Son, Daughter-in-law and grandson.

And the entire Whittier Community Theatre group.

We miss you, Rosalee!