This morning I went through some of the words from the memorial service yesterday.
On the back of the program were these words:
"When you love, you complete a circle. When you die, the circle remains."
- John Squadra
Annemarie Roeper spent her life in the study of children. She defined giftedness as "a greater awareness, a greater sensitivity, and a greater ability to understand and transform perceptions into intellectual and emotional experiences."
If everyone had the opportunity to go to school as she saw it, each would be brought forth with their emotional giftedness. She offers/offered tools to change the world.
Annemarie:
It is my belief that giftedness exists in the heart and Soul. It is in the area of emotions where the gifted differ most from others. The emotions of the gifted grow out of their greater cognitive awareness. Gifted children overflow with emotion, passion, enthusiasm. At times, they exhaust others with their emotionality. Their sense of justice is deeply emotional. I once saw a child give up winning a chess game on purpose, because he noticed it would be intolerable for the other child. Injustice in the classroom is unbearable for them; injustice at home even more so. One child could never forgive the teacher who tore up his best friend’s picture.
Often we feel powerless within this huge network and expect the child to follow the pressures from the so-called “real world”, even when we know it is not a good fit. Actually, there is no such thing as the “real world”. We each has the power and will to do what we need to do. Children who grow up with a strong Self will understand that they can create their own niche in the world. The goal of school should be to honor the Self of each child. Relationships are the basis of all emotional, intellectual and even physical growth.
Annemarie remained involved and curious until the end. I'm sure she's still exploring with wonder and imagination.
Raymond Carver's wonderful words were offered:
Late Fragment
And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.
When Annemarie was asked before her death, if she got what she wanted from this life, she answered that yes, she did. I think these words are important for us to ask each day. Am I getting what I want from this life? Yes, I am.