ROGELIO’S MEMORY

I was nine when the helicopters came to Copapayo. We ran, metal kisses seeking us. Some swam and the blue foamed red. Some ran and the brown pooled red. Some hid and the green dripped red.

I hid among the dying, sucking tiny breaths of white smoke, and souls.

Until they yanked me from under his body.

“Come,” the soldier said, marching us away, “You’ll go to the city.”

“You’ll go to school. But I knew, and he knew, and God knew.

I found my sister Maria, only six, and Pablo, bigger and older. We trembled together.

They took the older girls and young women away. I heard them screaming. I didn’t know. But Pablo knew, and God knew.

When the final order came, the soldiers made three small groups of us. They didn’t mind that we knew. Pablo, Maria, and I were together. I hid again among the dying, sucking tiny breaths of white smoke, and souls.

By Sharon Richter

Maria’s soul was tiny. I saw it go. Pablo’s soul stayed for awhile. We trembled together. Pablo whispered, “We’ll go to the city.” “We’ll go to school.” But I knew, and he knew, and God knew.

I brought Pablo water in a rubber boot. But he was older and bigger. I couldn’t carry him.

I only knew one place to go. I went home to Copapayo and hid among the dead.

On the road, I found the girls and the young women. The dogs found them, too.

I thank God still, that Maria was only six.

Now I tell my story. And I know, and you know, and God knows.

community classes like acrylic painting, drawing and more. It was there in Carlisle, a town of around 20,000 people and described as having a “true suburban feel,” that she took her first mosaic class on “a whim.” It was there in classes that she met and studied under the late renowned mosaic artist Gina Hubler.

Hubler was more than a craftsman, having studied art and design in places like Ravena, Italy. With galleries in Miami and Pennsylvania, Hubler was known for her unique mosaic art installations in and around Allentown, Philadelphia, and the Miami area. Well known in the world of the arts, she had exhibits at the world famous Corning Glass Museum in upstate New York. Before her death at 58, Hubler had moved to Palm Desert, CA here in Southern California where she and Ruff-Richter remained friends and peers.

Later in life, in 2013, Ruff-Richter acted on her spiritual calling to enter full-time ministry and attended Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, garnering an M.Div. degree in 2016. She was then called to pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Pasadena, CA where she has served since 2018. Already a much beloved community leaser, also actively serves the Avanti program for developmentally disabled adults that has served Pasadena area families caring for a loved one for 40 years. The students attend a Thursday chapel that Ruff-Richter offers at Trinity for adults experiencing developmental or cognitive disabilities. They find her to be a bubbly and fun pastor, leading participants playing percussion instruments, in exuberant hymn singing, and ministering to the staff and others in the tight knit disability community.

“I’ve always liked jigsaw puzzles, and I still do them, mostly now in an iPad app. In fact, when you think about it, a mosaic is just like a big jigsaw puzzle that you put together from a design you create yourself. The difference from a jigsaw puzzle is that, if none of the pieces in front of you fit a particular spot, you can make a piece to fit using cutting and grinding tools.“

Richter shares that it is necessary as a mosaic artist, to understand the properties of the materials one uses in a mosaic: thickness, cutting and grinding properties, and color, mostly. Her materials are varied and often non-traditional. They can be marble, stone, tile, glass, porcelain, broken crockery, eggshell pieces, or even wood and pebbles. The grout and grout color are also very important. Choosing the wrong grout color, or the wrong range of mosaic colors for the grout options, you can end up making a very fractured, ununified mosaic piece. “Sometimes that’s desirable, but you have to make that decision before you start,” shares Ruff-Richter.

“The creative and tactile aspects of mosaic are the most fulfilling. I often find, when I’m working on a mosaic, that my brain goes to an entirely different place, devoid of words. It’s meditative and prayerful for me.

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