Here Lies A Person

When I was a student at Cornell, I met a couple from Port Elizabeth, South Africa.  They came to the United States to escape apartheid.  The husband was a physics professor, the wife taught math in the public school system.  To continue to live in their homeland would be to live outside of their belief system.

Over the years passed,  we lost touch.  I wondered many times how they felt toward their homeland as things changed there for the better.  I wondered if they had returned to visit. I wondered about the unspoken moments after they spoke about South Africa.

“As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.”

― Nelson Mandela

Mandela went on to say that the greatest tribute to someone who passed was to say,

"Here lies a person who has done his or her duty to his country and to his people." 
R.I. P.