The Life of Omi: A lesson in unconditional love from the richest woman in town

A personal eulogy about her life for those who knew her

By Andrew Galeziowski, son-in-law of Doris Villella (“Omi”)

As we all move on in years, our minds seem to turn more and more to trying to understand this earthly life that we live. Life’s struggles can make us more bitter. We become more frustrated with the world and sometimes the people around us. Add in a pandemic and social/political division to our stressed-out lives and the need to find some meaning in this life amidst the chaos becomes essential. Yet, we cannot slow life down to even think straight.

It is probably no coincidence that in this time of heightened angst and search for meaning in life that our Professor of the Humanities, Doris Villella (a.k.a. Omi), passed on from her current earthly life.  Although the fact of her passing creates sadness in those of us who knew her, her passing also forces us to slow down, revisit her life, and the lesson of empathy and unconditional love she gave to all of us.

I’m pretty sure anyone who knew her had a positive relationship with Omi. Furthermore, I find it hard to think of Omi having an argument with anyone (certainly not an enduring one). She seemed to get along with everyone, and I might add, even LIKED everyone. The rest of us are so stressed with our health, money, and the well-being of loved ones – we are driven to be angry and frustrated with those around us – we certainly don’t like many of them.  Yet Omi stayed above the fray – how could this be?

The Berlin Wall

Omi’s Wonderful Life – walk a mile in her shoes

This time of year, many of us revisit the Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life for an inspirational look at what is truly important in this life. For those of you who don’t know the story, an angel comes to a suicidal George Bailey to recount his life and convince him that he shouldn’t jump off a bridge to end it.

We all get to “walk a mile” in George’s shoes, from childhood to teenager to adulthood.  We learn what made him the person he became, one who valued a commitment to family and friends over money and material things.

So just like the angel Clarence in the movie, let’s explore Omi’s wonderful life, by walking a mile in her shoes, or at least through the first half of her life.

  • She was born into a broken-down, post-WWII Berlin. Basics of life were scarce. Food, let alone treats, was hard to come by. She went to school with kids of all ages, from 5 to 18 years old – think Little House on the Prairie for us born in America. She ended up living in East Berlin -the “dark side” of Berlin for years to come. Eventually, she was able to defect to West Berlin with her family.
  • Omi later moved to more peaceful Radolfzell in southern Germany where she worked as a seamstress at a clothing manufacturer, met her husband Filippo, and had three daughters.
  • In 1980, she achieved a dream by moving to the USA.

Lake Constance, Radolfzell, Germany

By tracing her across all the miles, we come to know what made her the Omi we knew:

  • In her childhood years, items like chocolate candy were a luxury. Omi recalled with fondness those moments from her youth when she could indulge in such a treat – it was a rare and special event, like a once-a-year Easter Sunday. We all know Omi loved her sweets – that is sort of an understatement, but maybe this explains why. And maybe it explains that when she came to visit her two granddaughters in Atlanta, she traveled with a tiny duffel bag for her clothes and a full-sized, checked suitcase containing a candy store worth of treats for her “beloved kinder”.
  • In her 20’s, a close friend of Omi’s died in a car accident. Maybe this explains why Omi, who had a license, never drove a car in the USA. And many of us are familiar with her nervousness when we she rode in a car, especially the front seat – “pas auf” (pay attention/be careful) you would hear her say time and time again.
  • And happy about coming to the USA? Just imagine Omi bee bopping to Neil Diamond’s (we’re coming to) “America” — I can’t say she possessed a voice that might make her a winner on American Idol, but her joyful spirit was so great even Simon Cowell wouldn’t tell her to stop.

In sum, as we think about Omi, the first things that come to mind are her bubbliness, her childlike giddiness/laughter, her enjoyment of time with family, friends, and most especially her children and grandchildren. She enjoyed a good laugh and never minded if she WAS the subject of a joke. Whether she was clipping coupons, handing out chocolate, creating a make-shift doggie bag from a napkin to bring home leftover chicken nuggets from a restaurant, or wearing the “Homer Simpson dress” (an inside joke), she was smiling and ready to give a big hug to confirm her love for all of us. She was not overly worldly, she did not long after riches nor measure a person by their looks or money. She simply loved unconditionally.

The end of the walk

Sadly, our earthly relationship with Omi has come to end. Many of us have likely walked together with Omi through one or more life experiences. Unlike most of us, and certainly me, she got to the end of life’s race and did not seem to have ever voluntarily abandoned any relationship. She seemed to have not just tolerated us but loved all of us to the last moment of life.

Today I have shared with you just a bit of information to enable us to walk in her shoes once again, to appreciate the wonderful life of our beloved Omi. In the end, we all gained something from knowing her, and it was something essential to our souls. Indeed, as our personal Professor of the Humanities, Omi taught us about empathy and unconditional love. She was the living fulfillment of that famous biblical quote:

“Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

And as we say goodbye, it is ironic to find ourselves so near to Christmas, a holiday seemingly built for Omi. She loved the decorations, the food, and the gatherings. Though her youth experiences may have made her quite the penny-pinching miser, she was no Scrooge when it came to giving gifts — the season of giving’s demonstration of her unconditional love for all of us.

And just like George Bailey from the Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life, though she may have lacked for material riches in her lifetime, when it came to friends, family and unconditional love, she indeed was the “richest person in town”.