October 22, 2004

Eulogjy by: Shqipe Malushi

A dream I had for you
My Beloved homeland
To sing for you through life
Until the day I die
As you once beckoned my heart
To swim through the rivers of hope,
Never missing a chance,
From the grief of truth,
Today I am there with you in spirit
Hand in Hand with my mother and child,
My God, your song continues to quiver
My soul, as the violin strings
Play my last dance of love.

Today we bid farewell to a woman, a mother, a daughter, and an artist Anita Bitri, her daughter Sibora, and her mother Azbije, together all gently passing through the doors of life to eternity.

If we all stop for a moment, all of us who knew Anita Bitri and try to recall how we remember her, I am sure most of us will hear her violin strings captivating our hearts and her songs moving our souls.

Her life was music that made each and every one believe that tomorrow will always come. Music was her gift to us, to make us believe that we too were part of that creation. Music that came from her heart and moved our worlds bringing us back to the green pastures of our homeland was the core of her happiness.

She came in this country, like many of us immigrants come with barely anything in her luggage but a dream: to be seen, to be heard, to be loved and to share her gifts with others while keeping the torch of light from the homeland burning. She wanted her life to be Art, and she made art from her life.

It was never about the obstacles or suffering for Anita. It was the music she played on the stage that mattered to her. It was about love of people that surrounded her, it was about searching for new venues to express herself, it was about freedom, it was about dreaming, and singing…

Her life was filled with sadness like lives of many artists; her gift was to bring joy, to lift the spirit of other people and make their moments magic. Her eyes were filled with light; her laughter rang long after she would be gone. Anita was funny, loved colors, food, talking for long hours about her dreams and love…She loved life. She loved her daughter Sibora, she loved her mother Azbije and wanted to give them a beautiful life. She tried. She was young she thought she had many years ahead of her.

As a member of Albanian American Women’s Organization she always offered to sing for us so we could successfully keep our mission ahead. She was very often a part of our events, helping us bring people together, reminding us who we were in the past and who we were in the present. Lifting our daily worries and giving us hope that our burdens would not last long.

It was on our last Mother’s Day event that all of them, Anita, her daughter Sibora and her mom Azbije came to celebrate this evening together. She lit up everyone’s heart as we danced till early morning hours, she didn’t stop, and she never stopped.

Anita was a fighter in life, she had a dream and her dream was Music, Love, her daughter, her mother, her homeland.

Anita suffered like thousands of women suffer when they come to a new country. She never forgot her home or her difficult days, Anita became their voice and hope for many women who seeked to find exit from survival to living.

Our members cannot believe that Anita has left, they call us crying, they remember moments with her, they whisper her songs…Flora Selfo who called yesterday said: “She made my son’s wedding magic, how can I forget her... She united us in life and she is uniting us in death.”

Indeed, I remember her trying always to overcome the obstacles and difficulties in her life, and walking proudly as an ambassador of our culture and art.

When Anita recently returned from Albania she was so happy that her people did not forget her, that they loved her and that her love for her homeland did not change in her heart. Today her homeland is waiting for her daughters in tears through the echo of their song.

Today we have to bid farewell to Anita, Sibora and her mom Azbije. We must promise to keep Anita’s legacy alive: That no matter what happens to us in life, we will keep our head high and sing our songs and dance our dances never forgetting our homeland.

We have to fulfill Anita’s wish to go back home, and let her soul rest in the land she loved.
Today we must help her dream become a reality and let her swim in the final ocean of love.

O My beloved people.

I would have loved for us to have gathered when Anita would have walked through those doors singing for us…But instead today it is our last chance to bid farewell to Anita Bitri whose song kept the fire of our hearts burning for many years in the past.

In a quiet moment please try connecting with their spirits. Feel the presence of her lovely eyes in your heart. Feel that innocent little child, and the face of a patient grandmother, and ask yourself what would you have done so that this moment never happened?

It is very difficult for me today to ask you for your generosity in spirit to support the saddest tragedy that befell our community, but I ask all of you humbly and I beg for your kindness to help us today with your donations, so we can arrange this trip of their final destination…today your contribution will go toward the most charitable function for burial of a mother, her child and a grandmother, instead of celebration of life.

You may give cash or checks…If you wish to give checks please do so quietly as the evening continues, Make checks payable to:
________________________ and give them back to our volunteers, and before the end of the night we will let you know about your efforts to help Anita and her family go home.

May God bless you!

Let us remember the words of Henry Scott Holland who said: “

I am standing on the seashore. A ship spreads her white sails to the morning breeze & starts for the ocean. I stand watching her until she fades on the horizon, & someone at my side says, "She is gone." Gone where? The loss of sight is in me, not in her. Just at the moment when someone says, "She is gone," there are others who are watching her coming. Other voices take up the glad shout, "Here she comes.”

Farewell dear sister, mother and daughter farewell to all of you, today you are departing from us and arriving home.

We will miss you.

This year, the open debate will primarily focus on one particular issue covered by SCR 1325- gender based violence in conflict situations. It was proposed to use the opportunity or aria-style meeting to look more broadly at the range of prevention, participation and protection issues covered by SCR 1325 and which will be addressed in the Secretary-General’s report.