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Dr. Luisa C. Stigol Born 02/23/1930-died 09/09/2021

Inspired by an Argentine writer you tube-influencer to share my story, today, grieving the loss of my own mom, who died 9/92021 I am launching upon the project.

I'd like to start talking about her, as I feel there is a therapeutic advantage to getting it out... As she aged, and particularly in the last year of her life, I moved past my own selfishness and was able to celebrate and express to her my appreciation for all she'd done for me.

Hers was not an easy sojourn upon this plane, having lost her own mom at the young age of 12, just as she was reaching puberty, to stomach cancer. Nor do I think mom had an opportunity to ever grieve her own loss, as her dad was very adept at hiding deep emotions and preventing his children from experiencing great loss. The story I was told, was that on her death-day (after having personally assisted her himself a Dr.) he whistled on the way home to hide the sad news from the children, mom and her 5-year old brother.

This inability to fully grieve her was something that dogged her the rest of hr adult life, and I recall many times a s a child her robbing me of my own angry emotions, either by being seductive and trying to talk me out of them, or angrier and superseding my anger!

I always remember when she accompanied me to the movies in Boston to see “the harder they come” how she spoke-out at the theater about the injustices in Argentina, where she played an active role as a young anti-peronist, a role that landed her in contact with my dad, because both their parents met at an anti-peronist meeting.

She also shared in her last year some of her militant activities, and I know that she was a woman of courage who stood-up for her convictions! She also was avery talented and hard worker and student, and that landed her a career that in time saw her moving herself and her two children from her native Argentina to the far-away lands of America, with a an invitation from Harvard School of Public Health to come and do research as a research associate. When her five-year term came to an end, she took the equivalency exam and once again became a Pediatrician, this time in joining the staff at Dedham Medical, where she and my stepfather Florian, bought a house together. She also published a book “Two Centuries, two men, 2 continents” available on Amazon, about her life, and in the entire book, her kids got maybe 1 paragraph each, her whole emphasis being on her Medical career. And I do remember it being a very illustrious one, as her patients and her staff adored her (her dad did too, and he and his wife were the best thing aside from my wife Susie, that ever happened in my life!)

I remember my sister and I used to say “as a cook, you're a very good Dr.”, because her household abilities were completely lacking, in fact, I was the one that taught her how to drive a car, when we finally got to Boston. It was my youngest sister who really stood by her side and assisted her deep into the last moments, putting her life on hold, even with a toddler, she was there for her devotedly, and for that, I am so grateful to this day!