Saturday, September 16, 2023

40th Day Memorial

Miskaye Hizunan Medhanealem
Monastery and Church
[Photo By: KPA]

Below is the 40th Day Memorial I presented at my father's memorial today. The service was beautiful.

አባቴ በሕይወቱ ሁለት ትልቅ ውሳኔዎችን ወስኗል።


የመጀመሪያው ከወጣት ቤተሰቡ፣ ከሦስት ልጆቹና ከባለቱቤት ከእናታችን

 ጋር ከኢትዮጵያ መውጣት ነበር።


ወደ ፓሪስ ወሰደን። እዚያም በዩኔስኮ ዋና መሥሪያ ቤት ለብዙ ዓመታት

ሠራ።


ሁለተኛው ውሳኔው በ92 ዓመቱ በእርጅና ዘመኑ ወደ ኢትዮጵያ ሲመለስ ነው


ያንን ሀሳብ ከአስር አመት በፊት የጀመርኩት እኔው ነኝ።


ከውጭ ካሉ ኢትዮጵያውያን ጋር በመሆን ወደ አገራ ቤት ወደ ኢትዮጵያ ይመለስ አልኩኝ።


አሁን እዚህ ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ አለ። በቤተሰቦቹ፣ በዘመዶቹ እና በጓደኞቹ ተከቧል።


ከእኛ ጋር ያሉት እና ከዚያ በላይ የሆኑትም.


ይህ የመጨረሻው ትልቁ ውሳኔ ነው ብዬ አምናለሁ።

My father made two big decisions in his life.


The first was to leave Ethiopia with his young family, with his three children and his wife, our mother.


He took us to Paris. And there he worked in UNESCO's headquarters for many years.


The second decision was at 92 years old, in his old age, to return to Ethiopia.


I was the one who sparked that idea, ten years ago.


"Let us return to Ethiopia, together with those Ethiopians who are abroad," I said.


Now, he is here in Ethiopia, with his family, his relatives, and his friends.


Those here with us, and those who are beyond.


His last decision is the most important, I believe.