Linda Baldocchi Gill, life lived well

Linda with Nate

When I think about finishing well what comes to mind is a person who has lived in such a way that they really lived an active full life. Some like Gordan Huber lived into his 90's. He lived well and rounded off the curve where he was active in life until the last months in his life. Health  is more than just doing the right things. There are many people who do the right things and despite their efforts they encounter hardships and illnesses that take there life too soon. But when we look at their lives we see a life lived well and finished well.
Such a person as my friend Linda Baldocchi Gill. Now grant you Linda and I have many similar activities we enjoy. Linda was a traveler, she loved mysteries, baseball, music, the arts, kids, family, good food and friends. Linda was also a person of faith. When I look a little closer these activities contributed to her love of her husband Ken and daughter and grand kids. She was a passionate teacher and again travels, mysteries, baseball was part of the painting of her life that made her such a dynamic teacher. Her subject math she mastered to teach but it was the student's success that counted. If a teen struggled with math Linda would encourage the student to hang in there and learn. Many students loved her as a teacher but struggled with math. She helped them succeed. She was good at challenging students to reach for higher goals than they knew about as well.

To me the philosophy of Linda's teaching is – “No matter the problem the student brings to the classroom, we can work it out.” I believe also there is a heart to it as well, a love for the student and respect. Her philosophy went further into a healthy relationship with student.

Linda loved competition and she was involved in sports and academic teams. She made the kids feel like family. There was no doubt what came first in Linda's life. She loved her family. It was special to see Ken and her, how they related to each other. In the Bible it says of marriage,"the two become one" and to me that describes Linda and Ken. Linda is the Cub's fan and Ken is the Sox' fan. Now me being a Cub fan, I have always wondered how can this paradox be? In the movie "Shakespeare in Love" Aussie actor, Geoffrey Rush gives us the line, "It's a mystery"! I think they loved each and some how the baseball thing worked its' way out. But every step Ken and Linda walked together. They are two very different people, but they worked together in raising a family and experiencing life together. Including Amy and grand kids was to them as natural as breathing. Going back to her philosophy on teaching applies to hr home, “No matter the problem the student brings to the classroom, we can work it out.” Family for Linda and Ken was a relationship of love.

They traveled to 17 different countries and the way they traveled they could have had their own travel show. Linda was the navigator and Ken the explorer. As Amy grew up the spirit of let's see what's out there.

It was Linda who introduced me to "The # 1 Ladies Detective Agency" knowing my love for Africa. Like me she loved the PBS mysteries and we both liked Robert Parker. I think it comes down to the love of the "games afoot".

Amy and Linda

Linda had to battle some difficult illnesses along the way. Courage we often think of as something done on the battlefield. But all of us are caught up in the battle for life. Linda battle cancer. To go to repeated treatments and set backs Linda continued to face disease for remissions to give her more time. I believe it takes great courage to repeatedly seek treatment that has side effects you have already experienced. Her faith in God was encouraged when she went to church. Faith even as small as a mustard seed is never easy. Paul writes, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:" There are alot of reasons we may have no faith or weak faith in God. Linda understood this life takes faith in God and life beyond our to brief life we have. It wasn't faith in good works, though Linda lived a good life, but faith in God Himself.

She lived her life well. She faced the end with a battle to continue, but in the end she shared her faith in God. We need better ways to fight cancer, but Linda showed us how to live with passion, skill and art. To join her we need to come to faith in the time of our lives. (see page Begin Your relationship with God at the top menu bar "pages") Keep walking