10 Years Gone.  M. Peggy Quattro presented an emotional eulogy for the amazing Cedella Marley Booker at Fairchild Tropical Garden, Miami, FL

Mother B Went Home to Zion on April 8, 2008.  

Greetings brothers and sisters.  It is an honor to be here and a privilege to share in this blessed occasion. Thank you Richard and Pearl, Anthony and Bob, Jimmy, Sharien and Rita, for sharing your mother with me – with all of us here – with the world. That could not have been easy.

Ms B once told me that her purpose in life was to be around people, to share thoughts and to share love.  That is our purpose here this evening.  People at every turn wanted a moment with Mama…a quick visit …a word…a laugh… and those lucky souls, like me, left more inspired and uplifted than when we came. 

 

Children, take comfort in her memories…and take pride in the life she lived. 

I pray that you cling to her joy and strength inside you and continue her purpose. I pray that you, her beloved children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, carry on her message of love, peace, and oneness. Carry on by example…as she so lived, she taught…how to live in faith, how to survive, how to conquer, and how to live in dignity.

Mother B certainly lived up to her name. She had this exceptional gift to make every one feel welcome, and to make each one feel special. The magic, the force, that is Cedella Marley Booker could not be contained or controlled.  Although she was a woman who functioned from the heart, it was a big mistake to perceive her as a “softy.”  Especially when it came to her family and her home. She so loved her home…and you could feel that love, you were surrounded by it, from the moment you stepped inside the lion’s gates. 

I always respected that she was ever the optimist…Jah would never lead her astray… that’s how she survived… grounded in faith…guided by instinct.  She would glow when sharing her joy in Rastafari… through her conversation…songs…performances… her words painted pictures of salvation and paved a path to discovery.

Mother B lived as proof of the power of faith. Spiritual, wise, courageous…she traveled a righteous path…filled with life’s highs and hardships… but always with her goal in sight — Going home to Jah …and her children.

What a blessed family… to have Mama and Bob, both one-of-a-kind, never to be duplicated, who together left a legacy that has touched and changed the world.  It’s up to us now… yes, Movement of Jah people … We will show our love to the smiling woman of song by moving on — knowing we are blessed by having her in our lives — and sing a joyful song as we send her home, to the beauty of the mountain top, to her roots… to rest and rule… for I-ver…