09.09.08
Missed class due to death in the family.
I missed our first day of class due to an unexpected death in my family. It was my cousin's husband. Experiencing death makes me realize how fragile and 'real' life actually is. Watching what my cousin is going through helps me to see the power of loss in love and the power of love within my family. Experiencing death within our family structure helps me to see and be reminded of how strong the family bond is and what it means to be a family. Each member of my family has pulled together to be around her with love and support. The experience helps me to see the true strength that a person can find within themselves. Death, to me, helps to remind me of the need to appreciate what I have in life, no matter how bad or good the circumstances might be. It helps me to be reminded of and appreciate the people around me, the people I call both my family and friends, who are so important in my everyday life. It reminds me of what love is and what it is capable of.
Vocabulary
Class - (noun) a group of students taught together according to standing, subject, etc.
Death - (noun) the act or fact of dying; permanent ending of all life in a person, animal or plant.
Husband - (noun) a man with reference to the woman to whom he is married.
Power - (noun) great ability to do, act, or affect strongly; vigor; strength.
Love - (noun) a deep and tender feeling of affection for or attachment or devotion to a person or persons.
Structure - (noun) the arrangement or interrelation of all the parts of a whole.
Family - (noun) a group of people related by ancestry or marriage; all those claiming descent from a common ancestor; tribe or clan; lineage.
Strength - (noun) the power to resist strain, stress, etc; toughness; durability.
Verbs
missed - (vt) meaning to fail to meet, reach, attain, etc; Used in my entry to describe my reason for failing to make class for our first meeting.
reminded - (vt, vi) to put a person in mind of something; to cause a person to remember. I used this word in my entry to better explain my experience with death and the feelings in which death provoked.
Practice Exercise
1. What is the term for a word that names a person, place or thing? _______
2. What is the term for a word that is used to limit or qualify a noun? ___________
3. What is a verb? __________________________________________
Closing Exercise
1. I really like him. He is very __________.
2. She loves to go shopping at her favorite stores for shirts and __________.
3. My mother asked me to help her with chores, so I kindly _______________.
4. Every week I go out to dinner with my ________.
5. The dog and the cat get along quite __________.
6. It has been raining all weekend and it makes me feel ___________.
www.pallcare.asn.au/mc/mcitalian.html - 23k
( for information on death in the Italian culture and family)
