Appreciations

Had destiny not taken a different path, Daisybelle de Mel would have lived to celebrate her 86th birthday on January 22. She passed away only a few days after the dawn of the new year, due to an unfortunate sequence of events which followed an untimely fall. While family and friends still suffer deeply from the loss of a special person, we can also rejoice as we celebrate a life that was lived beautifully. For she was a lady filled with love and grace, of whom we can cherish many happy memories.

The eldest daughter of the late Sir Philip Rodrigo and Lady Rodrigo, and wife of the late Colonel Maurice de Mel, Daisybelle who was to her many nieces and nephews, a beloved ‘Loku Amma’, had many remarkable qualities. Some of the most striking were her unfailing faith; her enduring strength, calm and poise at all times, especially in difficult ones; her ability to treat people of all walks of life in the same way, with particular kindness to those who served her; and her concern for each and every member of the family, most of all in times of illness or adversity.

Until the very end, never was a birthday forgotten, or an anniversary left unrecalled- what this meant indeed, was that all were remembered, and everyone was made to feel special. Loku Amma always found time for others, something we can truly appreciate in the realities of our times.

Personally, I will not forget the smallest acts of kindness, like the things my aunt would do for me and my sisters, especially when our parents were overseas. This also gave us the opportunity to come to know her as one with a sense of discretion which could command confidence, someone with a broad and liberal mind, who could adapt to new ideas with a philosophical sense as well as sensibility, which yet was never imposing.

For those of us who are separated by distance through living abroad, elders like Loku Amma are an anchor, a source of strength, and a continuation of the family traditions of earlier generations, to which we keep going back. They represent a never-changing system of values - like faith, peace, humanity, the importance of the family, simplicity, humility, treating people alike irrespective of any divisions, and reaching out to the less fortunate - in an ever changing world.

Our prayers at this moment are especially for the nearest and dearest- her devoted children Srimali, Manilal and the late Ranjith, their spouses, children and grandchildren; and her dear siblings, late Paul, my own mother Yvonne, Noeline, Cynthia, Shirla and Myrna.

Daisybelle de Mel can be remembered as one who strove to live Christ’s teaching of ‘love all others, as you love yourself’. On this your special day, your family and friends remember you, Loku Amma, with a lot of love. We thank you for all your acts of kindness, care and concern. And we pray for you.

She made everyone feel special