A month ago Roselinda K. Rampp passed away after a difficult battle with ovarian cancer. As this video shows, Rose was deeply passionate about sharing the joy of music with others. She was one my former supervisors at the Levine School of Music and had a huge influence on my professional career. I credit her with playing a part in my decision to pursue a career as an arts administrator. Her dedication to help build not only a program, but a school, that would provide a strong musical presence in the community was inspiring to me.
Before I go on I feel the need to be completely honest. Although I loved Rose, our relationship wasn't perfect. Our personalities and work habits could be very different, so sometimes we butted heads. After I left Levine I pulled away a bit, but in the past year I began to realize how big a role she'd played in my life when I started to apply for graduate school to study arts administration. I'm not sure if I'd be as passionate creating my own performing arts institution at this stage in my life if it wasn't for the experiences that I had working in her office so early in my career.
I hope she knew I thought she was a woman with wonderful ideas and I admired her passion for the arts. Sometimes, I'm not sure if she realized how unique she was. I would say one of my biggest pet peeves with her were the moments when I felt like she didn't. She had a heart bigger than I think her body could hold. If something bad happened to someone she cared about she would start crying before a tear could even fall down their own cheek. She was beautiful and funny. Even after she lost her hair during her first fight with cancer in 2008 her beautiful eyes still shone right through. She was so giving wanted everyone to be happy. As I look around my own bedroom, I see I have so many items that were gifts from her.
When I moved to New York she told me she was afraid I would forget her. How could she think I ever would? The memory of her was long ago tightly woven into the story of my life. I'm still processing the fact that she's actually gone. When I see pictures of her smiling face, it really hits me.
I want to end with a "Rose quote" that I posted on my wall the day after she passed away:
"I love hearing the children sing as they come out of class, give out hugs, and play with each other. Thank you for being a part of our lives."
Actually....when I think about it, I feel like it might be more appropriate to use a quote that accurately sums up our relationship. Well, I know she would laugh at this anyways:
Rose: That's what she said!
Me:...I should have never taught you that.
<3 I won't forget.
 | |
|
To learn more about ovarian cancer, please visit the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition website.
Posts
