Our best thoughts and prayers go out to AnnaMarie Rossi, her parents Joan and Dan, and all of the Rossi family, as they mourn the loss of Pfc. Jonathan M. Rossi, 20, who was killed last Sunday in Iraq. Pfc. Rossi was AnnaMarie’s nephew, eldest son of her brother Michael.Many families are part of the extended Barksdale and Theatre IV family, but few families have more or closer ties to our theatres than the Rossis. We stand with them during their time of loss.
Pfc. Rossi was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Bliss, Texas. He was a Florida native, and joined the Army in Tampa on June 14, 2005.
He was killed in Baghdad when insurgents attacked his unit with a roadside bomb and small arms fire. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals.
AnnaMarie writes: “Pray for our family as we struggle through this one. We realize we are not alone, but that does not make the burden any easier to bear.”
A video account concerning Pfc. Rossi can be accessed here
We send the love and prayers of everyone in the Richmond theatre community to all of the Rossi family. Please know that you are in our hearts.
--Bruce Miller
3 comments:
To All our Friends in the Rossi Family,
Be assured that you are in our prayers during your time of loss. The ones of you we know and all the family members we don't know. We're so sorry. Please let the Florida part of your family know that their dear son and brother is being remembered and mourned here in the Richmond theatre community. There's nothing we can do but let you and them know that all over the country, in every walk of life, there are people who are taking notice of Jonathan today and who care about your family and send our love. God bless you all.
I hope this doesn't seem foolish or cliche. Watching the video of AnnaMarie's brother and his surviving sons, it's all I could think of. In the context of the show, it's really quite moving, and, in the context of this tragic loss, appropriate and consoling, I hope.
CINDERELLA
Mother cannot guide you.
Now you're on you're own.
Only me beside you.
Still, you're not alone.
No one is alone, truly.
No one is alone.
Sometimes people leave you
halfway through the wood.
Others may deceive you.
You decide what's good.
You decide alone.
But no one is alone.
LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD
I wish...
CINDERELLA(To Little Red)
I know...
Mother isn't here now.
BAKER(to Jack)
Wrong things, right things...
CINDERELLA
Who knows what she'd say?
BAKER
Who can say what's true?
CINDERELLA
Nothing's quite so clear now-
BAKER
Do things, fight things...
CINDERELLA
Feel you've lost your way?
You decide, but
You are not alone.
Believe me.
No one is alone.
No one is alone,
Believe me.
Truly...
BOTH
You move just a finger,
Say the slightest word,
Something's bound to linger,
Be heard.
No one acts alone.
Careful, no one is alone.
CINDERELLA
People make mistakes.
Fathers,
Mothers,
BOTH
People make mistakes,
Holding to their own,
Thinking they're alone.
CINDERELLA
Honor their mistakes...
Fight for their mistakes-
Everybody makes-
BOTH
One another's
Terrible mistakes.
Witches can be right,
Giants can be good.
You decide what's right,
You dedide what's good.
CINDERELLA
Just remember:
BAKER
Just remember:
BOTH
Someone is on your side.
LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD & JACK
Our side.
CINDERELLA & BAKER
Our side-
Someone else is not.
While we're seeing our side-
LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD & JACK
Our side....
CINDERELLA & BAKER
Our side-
ALL
Maybe we forgot:
They are not alone.
No one is alone.
CINDERELLA
Hard to see the light now.
BAKER
Just don't let it go.
BOTH
Things will come out right now.
We can make it so.
Someone is on your side,
No one is alone.
My thoughts are with the Rossi family in this time of grief. I offer the prayer of metta, the compassionate wish for the peace of all sentient beings in the buddhist tradition.
"May all beings be happy. May they live in safety and joy. May all beings, whether weak, strong, tall, stout, average or short, near or far, seen or unseen, in all directions throughout all possible universes, may they be happy, peaceful, and free from suffering.
As a mother watches over her child, willing to sacrifice her life to save her only child, so should I cherish all living beings, suffusing the whole world and limitless time and space with pure, onobstructed kindness and peace."
We are in Jonathan Rossi's debt as a nation and as a community. The similar sacrifices of so many families across this country must never be forgotten.
With deepest sympathy,
Scott Wichmann
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