Rose Antidormi Talarico

The life of Rose Antidormi Talarico offers an example of courage in the face of emotional adversity; of disciplined resistance to the great enticers of our time that tug continually and insidiously at our spirits, threatening to make of us less than we are or ought to be; and of unpretentious spirit that ennobles.                                                                 

To humble circumstances born, in humble times raised, never was her aim to be the only focus of another’s attentions or to have the world revolve around her. Unassuming and without arrogance, deference toward the next person was a natural inclination for her. She did not try to be first in importance. Resolute that her children be given more educational opportunities than were available to her, she remained unafraid of the separation she risked in their achieving that which she so desired for them. Enduring much emotional adversity in youth, she wrestled valorously its painful effects for life. Aware and respectful of her own limitations, she pushed when to push was the need and then let patience and common sense take it from there. Modest always in both manners and dress, she moved with silent dignity at her side. Fairly and justly she dealt with those she encountered. Armed with the values of a truthful character and well-formed conscience, she resisted the ways of deception. Resilient and always open to mutual forgiveness and starting over, revenge was never an option for her. As she remained in Portland for life—rooted deeply and deliberately in time and place—so she and friends and family were side by side for life. In conversation, no gossip or slander. Not one to disdain the ordinary, she was able for life to express surprise and amazement before new experiences. Her faith and her God were friends always near, in good times and in bad, and submitting her life to a power beyond was for her no act of weakness or response to fear but humble act of acknowledgment and unreserved trust.

The stuff of heroism in the life of this, my mother, lies not so much in the grandness of what she accomplished in life as in the humbleness with which she walked the journey; not so much in a long list of achievements to display as in the many quiet qualities of her character. Hers was an example not about life’s various destinations but about the inner processes and developments we experience along the way and how those can affect both ourselves and others in positive ways contributing quietly yet substantially to the essential meaning and value of a life well lived.

Born June 8, 1916, Linnton, Oregon to Eleanora Clementucci and Vincenzo Antidormi, immigrants from Collarmele, Abruzzo, Italy. Married September 18, 1938 to Angelo John Talarico, an immigrant from Aprigliano, Calabria, Italy. Gave life to two sons, offering them basic and simple principles and a model for how to conduct lives well lived. Died February 18, 2003 in Portland, Oregon.