Nicolas Costea, MD - Guestbook
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Comments:
Replies received September 15, 2010 Sent via email. 9/15/10 Ilenuţă, dragă
Ce mult îmi place să te văd fericită. Străluceşti de bucurie alături de Nic.
Îmi pare rău că nu l-am cunoscut, dar pentru că te-a făcut să simţi viaţa altfel, să vezi atâtea locuri minunate, să cunoşti oameni foarte diferiţi, să legi prietenii, să rămâi la fel de generoasă şi de expansivă şi după plecarea lui, îmi pare că şi-a împlinit visul pe care îl are orice bărbat, atunci când se însoară: să o fericească pe iubita lui, cât mai mult timp posibil.
Sper să treci cu bine peste perioada asta (căci, îmi dau seama, amintirile acum sunt mai violente decât de obicei).
Te sărut şi te îmbărbătez cu iubirea mea,
Lidia Lazu Artist and poet from Bucharest Romania, whom I invited to do some poetry dance and music shows in California, in May 2008. Nic was used to receiving people in our house. I am just following our tradition… 9/15/10 Avea încã, cînd l'am cunoscut noi, în 1990, prospetimea spiritului de licean care domnea în Bucurestii anilor 1940 - 1950. Ceea ce este mare lucru cînd te apropii de 70 de ani. Cred cã aceastã tinerete anterioarã l-a fãcut, cred eu, sã fie fericit în ultimii ani ai vietii. Nu mi-a pãrut niciodatã revendicativ sau ranchiunier. Vãrsãm amîndoi, eu si Coca, o lacrimã pe mormîntul lui, care ca si cel al soldatului necunoscut, nu existã decît în spiritul nostru.
Radu
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IC English translation He still has the fresh spirit of a highschool student from the Bucharest days in 1940-1950 when we first met him in 1990. This is an extraordinary thing when you are getting close to 70 years old. I think that the youth he lived there made him happy in his last years of life. He never showed any desire to be revengeful or had any grudge on any one. Both of us (Radu and his wife Coca) are droping a tear on his (Nic’s) grave, which like the one of the unknown soldier, exists only in our soul.
Radu Radu Bagdasar, my cousin from Paris
9/15/10
Draga Ileana,
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IC: English Translation
Dear Ileana,
I am sorry I did not meet Nic while he was alive,
Your pictures are extraordinary, in a good sense, and from them love is emanating.
Only this counts, love, and it never goes away!
A warm hug with much love! Nely Elena Porumb, University Professor of Management from Cluj/Napoca, Romania
9/15/10
Tres chere Ileana,
Je ne vais pas souvent dans cette boite email c'est pourquoi je n'ai pas vu ton message avant. Je pense a toi dans ce moment difficile du souvenir de la disparition de Nic. Merci pour les mots que tu as ecris pour nous faire nous rappeler quel homme formidable il etait.
Je t'enverrai quelque chose que tu pourras mettre dans le site que tu vas faire pour lui.
Je viens d'imprimer la superbe photo de vous deux, cette photo que j'admirais a chaque fois que je pouvais la voir en venant chez vous. Je peux ainsi maintenant l'admirer autant que je veux, je la mets devant moi, la ou je travaille.
Je t'embrasse fort et te souhaite du courage. Embrasse aussi Jerry pour moi, j'espere qu'il va bien.
A tres bientot, je pense a vous.
Brigitte
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IC: English Translation
Very dear Ileana,
I am checking this email address rather seldom, thus this is the reason for which I did not see your message earlier.
I am thinking of you at this difficult moment of memories about Nic’s leaving.Tres chere Ileana,
Thank you for the words that you wrote so that we can all remember the formidable man that Nic was.
I will send you a few words that you could put on the website you intend to build for him.
I just printed the superb photograph of you two, this photo that I was admiring each time I came to see you (in Los Angeles) in your house. Now I can admire it as much as I wish; I will put it in front of me on my desk.
Strong kisses, and I wish you courage. Please kiss Jerry from my part too. I hope he is doing fine.
Hoping to see you very soon. I am thinking of you,
Brigitte Brigitte Fontaine, Nimes, France
IC : Brigitte is one of our best friends. She and her ex-husband Yves Fontaine came several times to visit us and stay with us in Encino. The jumped into the first plane to come to the funeral when they heard of Nic’s death.
9/15/10 Draga Nunus,
Ce tineri si frumosi erati !!!
Imi amintesc cu drag de Nick si voi gasi timpul sa scriu cateva amintiri despre el.
Te sarut,
Doina
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Dear Nunus,
How young and beautiful you were!!!
I am remembering Nic with love and I will try to find the time to write a few memories I have about him.
I kiss you,
Doina Doina Tetcu (Stafiescu), a childhood friend of mine, who attended the ARA Conference I organized at CSUN in 1992, and stayed at our Encino house.
Comments: Replies received September 14 (Part 2). 9/14/10
Vai Nunus,
------------- . Wow, Nunus, How superb pictures ! A prins and a princess! Tears came to my eyes reading what you wrote. May God keep Nic in peace and let Nic be remembered in God’s Kingdom! 9/14/10
Ma gandesc la voi..plang..rad .., da era plin de humor...! Trebuie pomenit cu un zambet !
Te imbratzisez
------------- IC: English Translation
I am thinking of you.. I cry … I laugh …, yes, he had such a good sense of humour … ! We must remember him with a smile! I am so glad I had the opportunity to know him, that I could laugh and talk to him … he was so very special in many ways … so handsome too! As for you, a “sweetheart”, beautiful and so smart …it is not a coincidence that you two found each other …! He was of the same zodiac as me, a Scorpion … a non-important detail! I have some pictures with you, but on paper, with him, with your mother in Paris! I will ask Kemal to scan them and we will send them to you!
I kiss you
Irina (Rosetti) and Lutfi (who liked Nic madly and Lutfi is not someone easy to conquer… He (Lutfi) is serious and smart in his way of in sensing (“smelling”) people!
With love from, still, both of us !!!
9/14/10
Such a nice looking man. You both seem happy. My thoughts and prayers are with you and Nic this day.
Warm regards, Mary-Catherine McBride IC: Rotarian, Newberry Rotary Club 9/14/10
Draga mes Nunus,
O zi trista si melancolica, de amintiri si nostalgie, pentru tine intii si intii, dar si pentru cei care l-au cunoscut pe Nick si si-l amintesc cu placere si tandrete. Dumnezeu sa-l odihneasca.
Noi astia viii trebuie sa-i dam inainte printre necazuri, uragane/cutremure, si nenorociri (cuvintul nu mai e exagerat) bugetare.
Curaj.
Te sarut cu drag si ma gindesc la tine.
Miruna Eliza M. Ghil
------------- My dear Nunus, A sad and melancholic day, of memories and nostalgia, for you first of all, but also for those who knew Nick and who remember him with pleasure and tenderness. We, those who are alive, must go on through troubles, hurricaines/earthquakes, and financial disasters (the word is no longer an exageration). Curage, I kiss you with love and am thinking of you, Miruna Eliza M. Ghil Professsor of French, specialist of Medieval Literature, University of New Orleans IC: Miruna is the person I have the more stimulating intellectual discussions. She visited us once in Los Angeles, when Nic was still alive, when she had to attend a conference here. I am sure she remembers the funny situation at the dinner we all had, with another Romanian couple, at a Mexican restaurant in Marina del Rey. Of course Nic was at the core of this funny story. 9/14/10 I’ll think of him and wish him well, wherever he is. Love, a Adina Baclagian, Los Angeles 9/14/10
nick and iliana
dear ileana , i just saw the e mail and the unbelievable gorgeous photos of nick and you.. i remember how you both loved each other and how lucky we are to be have the good luck to have years of so much love and sharing life. thank you for sending it to us. love, yda
yda ziment, a gifted painter IC : The beautiful wife of Irwin Ziment, MD a colleague of Nic. Yda speaks fluent French and Nic had a soft spot for women who spoke French. I am sure Yda understands my struggle with Nic when he was ill, for in her turn now she is taking an impressive good care of her not too old husband with Parkinson. Like in our case, Irvin is in the house, and Yda tries to make the most of everymoment, so that Irvin can also enjoy. 9/14/10
Dino Primit - Foarte dureros - suntem alaturi de tine, frumos ca-ti aduci aminte. Traim cu memoriile si multe sunt frumoase - sunt bogatzia noastra.
------------- Dino Received - very painful – we are close to you, nice from your part that you remember. We are living with our memories, and many are beautiful – they form our richness. IC: What an intersting combination for the spelling of my Nickname between the Romanian form NUNUS and the English form NOONOOSH! Dinu is an arhitect. When I joined Nic in Los Angeles I started introducing him to friends I would little by little discover lived abroad, and many in the States. Nic spend his life mostly among “real” Americans… Since I studied architecture, most of the Romanian I got to know, and introduce to Nic in the first year of our marriage were architects. To the point that Nic said: I know. All Romanians are architects. There was Ilona Scott (Sabattino), Mirel (Miron) Iliescu Hunt, Lidia Stirbu (Iliescu), Nathan Shapira, Mihai Stelea, Dinu Tudor… si multi altii.
9/14/10
Merci Ileana pour ce beau mail très émouvant. Je vais voir si je retrouve des photos et une histoire à raconter. Je t'embrasse Béatrice
------------- Thank you, Ileana, for this beautiful very touching email. I will see if I can find some photos and will try to write a story. I kiss you, Beatrice
Beatrice and Michel Brenneur, Judge and Air France Pilot, Grenoble, France IC : Among our French friends who spent over the years ome weeks in Los Angeles at our Encino house, and once, when I was “lost” in Europe, they were close to Nic, trying to quiet his anxieties, although I informed him of my whereabouts. He used to do the same thing with my mother, when she stayed at our house, and I was working in Fullerton, a roda with a heavy traffic of trucks. A 1 ½ hour drive could easily become a 2-3 hour drive home, at rush hour. He used to tell my mothe about accidents he heard on the radio, and how he is sure I must be in one. Until he drove the poor old lady nuts, and she asked him to not open her room door until I come home. But he continued to open the door … J and fill her with worries about her daughter. 9/14/10
God Bless Nic's soul! Via Paraschiva Marsellos 9/14/10 Merci Ileana pour ce beau mail très émouvant. Je vais voir si je retrouve des photos et une histoire à raconter. Je t'embrasse Béatrice 9/14/10
Dumnezeu sa-l ierte si sa-l odihneasca alaturi de cei mari si buni! Sunt convins ca darul amintirilor vietii petrecute langa el va fi suficient sa-ti lumineze tot restul zilelor tale, pana cand va veti regasi din nou.
Numai bine,
Cristian Cristian Calugarita Presedinte, Viitorul Roman Society
9/14/10
Draga Nunus,
Mugura si Bane (Serban Georgescu)
9/14/10
Quelle histoire vraiment touchante; je pense à toi en ce jour de memoire. Vous êtes magnifiques sur les photos. Trés gros bisous Ileana!
Sabine
What a very touching story; I am thinking of you in this day of remembrance. You look wonderful in the photos. Many kisses Ileana!
Sabine
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Sabine Danoffre, daughter of a good French friend of mine, Ghyslaine, from my days of poverty and adventure as a refugee in Paris, in 1972 and 1973. I am sure Nic would have enjoyed Claude, Ghyslaine and Sabine’s stay at our place in May this year, for they all are nice and “cool” people, and they all speak French, and he loved people who speak this language. He studied medicine in France in Paris and then Strassbourg.
9/14/10
Draga doamna Ileana,
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IC: Partial Translation …
Sad, very sad. The little I had the opportunity to knoe Mr. Nic, was enough for me to realize that he was an absolutely wonderful man. It is a shame that fate separated you two so quickly.
And the pictures … are like taken from a movie…
…
Marius Ghetie, Vancouver, British Columbia Marius is part of a story which shows how open minded and “cool”a guy Nic was. It will be another time for the full very funny story … in Vancouver.
9/14/10
Ileana,
I am VERY TOUCHED that you shared your intimate letter also with me. Thank you.
What tender meaningful moments, LIFE and DEATH. I am listening.
Again, I loved seeing your photos of Nic, and the two of you together.
I regret that since we met, you and I have not been able to get together, as you surely did try with ideas.
At this time, I am in school full time learning computers. I set up a new system only yesterday. I still have the photo of you and Nic in my Photos.
I am sending you much love, especially at this time of remembrance. BlesSings for comfort and sweet loving memories, JOY "Serve G*d With Joy"
IC: Joy Ajula (wife of Marcel, who was first Nic’s resident, and then his doctor colleague, and who worked with Nic at the VA Hospital and at UCLA. Nic thought he was very bright and knowledgeable.)
Comments: Replies received on September 14 (part 1) Emails
9/14/10
Draga mea Ileana,
Citindu-ti mesajul am plans in hohote…. In oarecare masura situatia mea se aseamana cu a ta: si Mircea a suferit mult – practic doi ani, pe care insa prin “vointa” i-a dus pe picioare, dar apoi au venit opt luni de chinuri atroce, in care odata nu s’a plans, dimpotriva mai zambea, sa nu ne ingrijoreze pe noi! Noi doua – Isabelle si cu mine – in ultimele opt luni am fost zi de zi cu el la spitale, (uneori am si dormit acolo), la doctori, la teste, operatii – toate, care mai de care mai greu de suportat, mai nesuferite…. Ne-a parasit la spital sub sub ochii nostrii, cuplat la un aparat de provocat respiratia, pe care o pierduse .… Ultimele lui cuvinte au fost “nu pot sa respir”, dupa care l-a luat salvarea la spital, noi ne-am dus cu masina noastra, am stat acolo toata noaptea si a doua zi dimineata la 9:25 s’a suit la ceruri, sub ochii nostrii orbiti de lacrimi! De atunci nu mai pot suporta sa vad sau sa aud salvari!
....
Si el (sotul meu) era pentru mine “Printisorul meu”, si el a fost pentru mine OMUL pe care l-am iubit cel mai mult, “cel mai nobil OM din cati am intalnit eu, “farul nostru calauzitor” si acuma suntem in bezna…. Noi nu ne vom reveni niciodata!!!
Imi pare rau ca nu l-am cunoscut pe sotul tau, sa pot sa-ti scriu si eu ceva pentru web-site. L-am vazut o singura data cateva minute – la Congresul ARA organizat de tine, in biroul tau, de unde tu dadeai un telefon suparata ca numai stiu ce nu se pregatise, iar el a spus vreo cinci – sase cuvinte sa te linisteasca – dar nici macar nu mai tin minte ce-a spus….
Din fotografii mi se pare ca era un om domol, calm, vesel si hotarit! Am dreptate? Nu-mi vine sa cred c’au trecut 36 de ani…. Voi ati venit aici in 1974?
Asta seara o sa ma rog si pentru el: sa fie fericit acolo sus si sa aiba pace si liniste! Si tie sa-ti dea Dumnezeu taria necesara sa suporti viata aici si la sfarsit sa te reunesti cu el, acolo sus…. Asta-i ce dorim si noi pentru noi!
Cu toata dragostea,
Carmen
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IC: Partial English translation
Reading your message I broke in loud crying ... Somewhat my situation resembles yours: Mircea (my husband) suffered a lot – practically two years, but which, through very strong will, he lived “standing”… But then 8 months of terrible suffering followed, during which I never complained. To the contrary, he was smiling, not to worry us (his wife, and daughter)! The two of us – Isabelle and I – in the last eight months were every day with him to various hospitals (at times with slept in the same room), to doctors, tests, and surgeries…
…
I am sorry I did not have the opportunity to meet your husband, so that I could write something on his website. I saw him only once, for a few minute, at the ARA Congress (Conference you organized at CSUN in 1982), in your office, where you were making a phone call very angry that something, I can not recall what, was not pre-arranged, and he said five or six words to calm you down – and I do not recall what he said …
From the pictures you send he appears like a very good, calm, quiet man, joyfull and determined. Am I right? I can not believe how fast 36 years went by …You came to the State in 1974? (IC: Nic was 20 years older than me, and he was already establised in the States for many years, when I arrived in 1973, Valentine’s Day, February 14. He worked as a young physisican at Long Island Jewish Hospital, near New York, then moved to Boston, where he became one of the youngest Assistant Professor of Medicine. Then moved to Chicago, and finally to Los Angeles… “Move West young boy” he used to say.)
Tonight I will pray for him: wishing him to be happy up there where he is and rest in peace. As for you, I wish God will give you the necessary strenght to continue life here, on this earth, and at the end to reunite with him up there … This is what (my daughter and I) also wish for ourselves!
Carmen
Carmen Sabau, Scientist and Scholar, wife of Mircea Sabau, an exceptional man whom I was priviledge to meet. I think Mircea knew Nic somewhat. From where I do not know exactly. Both Carmen and Mircea were very active in the ARA Conferences, and for Romanian causes.
9/14/10
Dumnezeu sa il ierte! Acum cand te gandesti la el cu dor si nostalgie, gandul tau sa ii linisteasca spiritul, sa il inalte.
IC: Marina Nicolaev – creatoarea revistei online Omnigraphies, www.omnigraphies.com IC: Marina nu l-a cunoscut pe Nic. Am intalnit-o abia anul trecut la Paris si ne-am imprietenit.
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IC: English Translation God forgive him! Now when you think of him with “dor” (special Romanian word for missing someone”) and nostalgia, your thought should calm his spirit, and raise it.
He was next to you, he loved you, he protected you like no one else. You had the chance to have a soul like yours, to complete each other, and love each other!
A beautiful couple from the Movies! An extraordinary couple. He was more handsome than Richard Burton!
We are with you! You should know that he also is with us all next to you. He is protecting you. And he allows us our tears and regred and our remembering him. I will pray for him today, and I will light a candle if he was or not a religious person. God should lit the road of his soul!
9/14/10
Ileana,
Pozele tale si scurta istorie despre Nic mi-au adus lacrimi si zambete triste in acelasi timp. Desi nu l-am cunoscut, astazi mi-a fost in ganduri. 1974, Catalina, parca as fi fost acolo cu voi. Ce amintiri...
Durerea pierderii unei mari iubiri poate ca nu se vindeca niciodata.
Liviu IC: Liviu Marinescu is a collegue of mine at CSUN, professor of music and composer. Nic, a lover of classical music would have gone along very well with Liviu. They both share a very good sense of humour, Romanian style. Too bad Nic left before I briefended Liviu. ------------- IC: English Translation Ileana, Your picutres and the short story about Nic brought tears to my eyes and sad smiles at the same time. Althgough I did not meet him, today he was in my thoughts. It looks like I was there with you, on Catalina (Island) in 1974. What memories … The sorrow of losing a big love probably never heals. Liviu 9/14/10 Draga Nunus, Mary Gross, Master in Technology Education, and a wonderful human being and friend
IC: A terrific friend. During the many months of Nic’s illness, I took him on wheelchair numerous time at Mary’s, and we dined with her and her parents, Aida and Nelu. Aida, Mary’s mother lived very close to Nic’s family house in Bucharest, on Blvd. Dacia, and she knew all three Costea children (Nic, Pia, and Dan) from when they were in their teens. It is Mary I called when Nic died … She also was among the few who assured me I can call her any time if I need help, even in the middle of the night. ------------- IC: English Translation Dear Nunus, I recalled this date. And how the following day we left for Sidney. I kiss you and I regret we could not talk today. As soon as I find a moment I will look for Nick’s picture by the lake with geese … Kisses again, M 9/14/10 Ces photos sont exceptionnelles et montrent combien tu étais ravissante et très attirante. Nic a dû être heureux ! Voilà la pensée à laquelle tu peux et dois t'attacher. Avoir une femme belle et intelligente et aimante ...quoi désirer de plus ? J'ai passé un très bel été qui s'est terminé par une marche de8 jours en haute montagne, dans l'Oberland bernois aux pieds de sommets comme l'Eiger, le Munch, la Jungfrau...regarde sur internet. C'était fantastique et très stimulant.
Depuis, el travail à l'association a repris à toute allure . Je n'arrête pas, sauf ce matin et en suis heureuse même si assez vite fatiguée.
Je vais penser à toi et prier pour toi et Nic aujourd'hui et t'embrasse de tout mon coeur d'amie de près de 40 ans...Dis moi ce que tu deviens. Prendras tu un jour ta retraite ? MJ
Marie Jose de Heredia IC: The French young woman I spend 6 months with in her appartment near rue Washington, in 1972 when I was a poor refugee. I stayed for free and we became good friends. Those were the times when I was calling Nic everyday to Los Angeles, and had hopes of marrying him. Marie Jose was part of my love story. Only some years later did she get to meet Nic in Paris.Nic loved the vacation we spent at Marie Jose one summer, in the Southern of France on the little island on the river that her family owns, for a very lively 15th of August, Saint Mary Hollyday. He, with his love for music, enjoyed the Organ concert organized by Marie Jose in the village church, for the event to celebrate fundraising for the repair of the organ.
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IC: English Translation
These photos are exceptioal and show how gorgeous you were and how attractive. Nic must have been happy with you! This is the thought that you must attach to. Having a beautiful, intelligent and dynamic wife … what can one wish more!
I spent a very beautiful summer, which ended by an 8 day walk in high mountains, in the Bernaise Oberland at the bottom of mountain tops such as the Eiger, Munch, Jungfrau … look them up on Internet… It was fantastic and very stimulating.
Since then, I started working at the Association at full speed… I do not stop, but this morning and am happy although always tired.
I will think at you and I will pray for Nic today and I kiss you of all my heart, the heart of a friend of almost 40 years … Tell me how you are and what you are doing? Will you retire ever? MJ
9/14/10 Draga Nunus,
IC: English Translation Dear Nunus, We are impressed by his deep love for Nic and your devotion to him until his last moment of life and also many years after he left us. The image that we have formed about you includes also a part of Nic, through the stories you told us with and about him, and from the pictures of him we saw. In the pictures you both are so good looking and a “complicity” transpires among you, which make us understand the your love which is not bordered by time. Thank you for inviting us into the circle of those privileged to be next to you at this moment of saddness and recollection which enriches us too. We are learning how we ourselves must make the love of our couple stronger and how we have to appreciate every moment together. We are next to you in our thoughts and soul in these privileged moment of commemorating Nic’s memory. We love you and wish you to have the strength so that you will carry on your love year after year. Do not forget to live for yourself too and for those around you who appreciate and love you. IC: Very dear friends of mine that Nic did not have a chance to meet. I am sure he would have enjoyed their company, their passion for France and gourmet food, and their intellectual conversations and interests. I am sure Nic would have danced and enjoyed everymoment of the two wedings of their daughter, Alina, with Jason, one in Paris and the other in Omaha Nebraska, and yes, all the beautiful girls with very long legs… for Nic loved me and looked with pleasure and interest at all the beautiful girls.
Comments: Replies received on Sept 13, 2010
There are about 40 replies to the email I sent to friends on September 13, 2010 when thre were 10 years since my husband Nic passed away. I broke them down in several comment entires. If I receive by regular snail mail or via email other responses I will again post them here. However, I hope that all other stories and memories about Nic will be shared in this Guestbook from now on. I marked in yellow the English translation of messages sent to me in French or Romanian, and in blue any additions and/or comments I made. At the very bottom of this long text you will find the original email I sent.
Ileana/Nunus Messages received via email on September 13
Mon, September 13, 2010
Ileana
Thanks for sending the photos and memories of Nic.
It is a great idea to make a website to build and renew memories!
L. Robin Keller
IC: Robin was my colleague at UCLA – we were both teaching a course on Problem Solving; She saw Nic many times during our Ph.D. studies.
9/13/2010
God bless his soul.
He will stay forever in our memory as the most gentle, kind and loving person, totally incapable of malice, modest and humble although gifted with a superior intelligence and education. May he rest in peace.
Love, Nana and Gigi Magiari
IC: My aunt and uncle, who knew Nic well, since their arrival in California. Many dinners at their house, many jokes, stories, and family events. 9/13/2010
Draga Nusa,
IC: Radu Nicolescu, Professor of Computer Science, Tamaki Campus, University of New Zealand, Auckland. He is a childhood friend of mine, we know each other since he was born. Nic met him first in Salzbourg, Austria, and then when Radu and his wife, Letitia, stoped for a few weeks at our house in Encino, on their way to emmigrate to New Zealand.
IC: English translation Dear Nusa:
Love,
Radu 9/13/2010
What a beauty!
Rodica Rodica Ramer, professor of engineering, Sidney, Australia 9/13/2010
Nunus,
. Love you, Sandra Primosch IC: Sandy is our nice. Nic knew her since she was a child. Now she is the mother of three. Many time at Sandy’s parents house in Loma Linda, California for family events, and some times Sandy at hour house.
9/13/2010
Merci pour ce beau message. Nic est avec mon grand-père maternel, l'un des disparus auxquels je pense le plus souvent, notamment chaque fois que je regarde la lune, qui comme je le sais maintenant : "est croissante quand elle a la forme d'un D, et décroissante quand elle a la forme d'un C... même que c'est pour cela que l'on dit con comme la lune." Son souvenir évoque toujours le sourire et l'humour, jamais la tristesse. Merci de le rappeler à ma mémoire ce matin. Bisous.
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IC: English Translation Thank you for this beautiful message. Nic is, together with my maternal grand father, one of the people who left this workd to which I am thinking most ofen, especially each time when I look at the moon, which, as I know it now (from Nic): “is growing” – word which in French and in Romanian starts with a C, when it has a D shape, and decreases when t has the form of a C… reason, probably, for which we say in French “con comme la lune” (stupid like the moon). His memory always evokes a smile and humour, never saddness. Thank you for remembering me his memory this morning.
Kisses,
Yves Fontaine.
IC: Yves was our best friend. He came from France to be with us at Nic’s funeral. He spoke at the funeral. We saw him many, many time, in Los Angeles, where he lived with other French students, in Hollywood, and especially at our house, for long, long lunches around the pool (generally on Sunday, they started at 2, and ended around mid-night.) Then he came with his ex-wife, Brigitte, numerous times at our house in Encino. We spend many evenings together partying in Paris. He and Brigitte liked our house so much that they build one like ours near Paris. It seemed like we were all the time together, in Los Angeles or Paris.
9/13/2010
Multumesc Nunus pentru prietenia noastra.
Nunus si Nic,
Imi pare rau ca am aflat acum ca ultimul simt pe care il pierde omul cand pleaca dintre noi este auzul, ca multe as fi dorit sa ii spun tatalui meu,intr-o camera de spital din Pennsylvania, inainte sa plece la Domnul. Eram in Romania, cand am aflat ca Nik ne-a parasit. Eram in Romania, cand de altfel trebuia sa fiu in Los Angeles, langa prietenul meu, sa ii pot spune plecare usoara si sa nu ma uite. Imi mai reamintesc ca tu Nunus,cand aivenit sa ne vizitezi la Snagov, am cules petale de trandafir din gradina si impreuna cu Sara, (care ieri pe 12 septembrie a implinit 8 ani) ti-am facut din petale un covor pana la prispa din fata casei. Atunci mi-ai spus de Nik si nu stiam nimic de la tine de disparitia lui. Dumnezeule, in noiembrie ziua lui, ce frumos ar fi fost sa ne putem vedea din nou, sa desfacem o sticla de Chardone, Perducii!
IC : Manu a locuit multi ani in Los Angeles. Ne intalneam cu placere la el la casa din Beverly Hills, la noi, sau la evenimente romanesti. Lui Nic ii placeau mult pozele facute de Manu si-l considera un fotograf foarte talentat.
------------- IC : English translation
Thank you for your friendship
Nunus and Nic,
I met you both at the same time. I think it was at an exhibition of (the Romanian Sculpture Patriciu Mateerscu, in Los Angeles) and since then we remained friends. At first sight it was like a magnet The happyness of an encounter that seemed prgrammed. I needed you in the new country in which I was trying to find my way. I did not have friends, for the very few, given to me by God, I left them with sorrow, n 1981, in the country where I was born. I do not know what our friendship meant to you, but for me you were the first blessing from God, in my new place on this globe. Yes, I liked Nik (Nic) for he always was merry. He had a joyness in his profound brght eyes, blue, it seems, like his soul.We were finding occassions to see each other, and after not so long, I had the impression that we knew each other from very old days, maybe before we were born. I was not smoking myself, and smoking was bothering me, but Nik, seemed not to smoke but just to hold between his thin long fingers a cigarette which was not spreadng any smell as I would like to be able to whisper today in his ear. I am remembering the period 1990-99, when I lived in a place in which in the evening I seemed to raise with God, I was enjoying to invite you to that place, where we were enjoying to talk together hours in a row, with a glass of good wine, only pleasant stories, always in low whispering manner, it seems.
I am sorry that only now, through your writing, I learned that the last sense that the human loses before leaving for the other world is the hearing, for I would have loved to talk to my father, in a room in a Penssylvania hospital, before he left us to join God. I was in Romania when I heard that Nik left us. I was in Romania, when in fact I should have been in Los Angeles, next to my friend, to be able to tell him to have an easy trip and not to forget me. I am also remembering that you, Nunus, whe you came to visit me and my family in Snagov, I gathered rose petals from the garden with my daughter Sara (who yesterday, on September 12 became 8 years old) and I did for you a carpet of petals from the street to the entry porch in front on the house. I did not know anything from you two for quiet a while. Only then I found out from you that Nic has left this world.
God, in November it is his birthday. How nice it would be to be able to spend some time with him, and to open a bottle of Chardone, Perducii!
9/13/10
De ce nu ramanem mereu tineri ?
Azi a plecat de printre noi total neasteptat (atac de cord – in cateva minute s-a dus) compozitorul Anton Suteu (sotul unei bune prietene de a mea din copilarie).
Dana Moldovan Past President Rotary Club Newbury Park 2008-09 Inter Country Committee District Administrator
IC: I do not think Dana knew Nic. I think I met her after Nic left us.
9/13/10
Hi Nunush,
Nick and you were our best friends for the most important part of our transplant here; I can not emphasize how much your presence and help meant for Nina and I. And I have a lot of dear memories of our trips together: Arizona, La Jolla, Salton Sea, Newport Beach, Lake Arrowhead, etc...as well as our frequent visits, outings, improvised dinners or talks in the backyard or by the pool
Not a long time ago I retrieved some of the pictures; we were young and beautiful... now we are only beautiful, but that does not matter as I remember Nick as he was 10, 15, 30 years ago. I will email you the pictures in time.
I loved both of you and I really will never forget him.
...
And I allways admired the way you took care of him during the last period of his life, taking him everywhere and trying to make his life as pleasant as it could be.
For that... Chapeau bas...
Sasha Alexandru Calin, Solar Engineer and Insurance Agent, Los Angeles
IC: Sasha was our best friend. We did many trips together with them (Nina and Sasa). We knew them from the very beginning of their arrival in California. There were numerous lunches and dinners at their or our place. Sasha spoke at Nic’s funeral. Yes, I had to take care of Nic while he was bed-ridden with a devastating general cancer, who extended itself to the bones, and he had to have surgery on his right arm and both legs. I will never forget how Nic used to say, before this huge surgery that he only wants his arm taken care of. “Sa-mi opereze numai labuta.” “Let them do surgery only at my paw.” He had such a different way of expressing himself, and so dear. Many people could not understand why I do not put him in a rehabilitation center. For me it was out of the question. He had to enjoy our home. He was out in the garden daily, and many times I will also take him by car to an exhibition or to the ocean. Full attention at home was the only way I could imagine it for him. |
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