Tassildi, Professor Tass, Tasi, PTI, Ildi……
It is just not possible to write an obituary about you, because that would mean you are no longer here, we have to say goodbye. That’s really would mean an end, the end of our work together. Since the closure is not yet possible, I would rather just remember, I hope I am not alone in this…. Reading the messages written about you by colleagues and friends from all over the world, it is clear that wherever and whoever you worked with, you left a mark, one could simply not be indifferent to you…
During your professional work, you gained practice and diverse professional experience in various fields of Conductive Education. As a beginner conductor in a kindergarten group, then in the international groups from the beginning of the 90s. You were part of the expansion and continuous development of interval Conductive Education, and then you also participated in its implementation abroad during various projects. Your professional curiosity encouraged you to constantly improve yourself. As one of the first conductors, you obtained a scientific degree, but at the same time – because, as you said, with good organization, even this can fit in – you also obtained a professional exam in the field of manager training.
You could always be counted on even in the most difficult situations, this also happened when, due to changes in senior management in the institution, you performed the duties of director general for 7 months. Afterwards, you said that it was the longest 7 months of your life and that you learned a lot from it, about human relations and the nature of power. You may or may not have been sad that it was over, but as the tasks always found you, so came the next stop, the management of the Practical Public Education Institute and the Department of Theoretical Conductive Pedagogy. You also threw yourself into this with great energy, you wanted to pass on your experience as a conductor to the best of your ability, to shape the outlook of future conductors.
Community and teamwork were very important to you. You testified that even the best professional cannot achieve her goals if she does not receive support from her colleagues and cannot rely on dedicated, well-educated, open, innovative, positive-thinking colleagues. You liked to make us feel that we could count on you and we really felt that this was the case. Even when life brought us very difficult situations… How many times have we heard from you that it is nice to win from here!? You were an accessible colleague, someone you could call on if someone having a problem. But feedback was also important to you, you even demanded critical comments and even if you disagreed, you thought about the other person’s opinion, you were happy with the debate because it inspired you, because you believed that a good argument leads to a good solution, and from there you just need to go on and further.
You have said many times that good is not enough, you can always do better.
You have worked for the quality implementation of Conductive Education in all professional fields. In addition to permanence and traditions, it was important for you to achieve continuous innovation, the unity and harmony of theory and practice at the highest possible level; application of new research results during practical work. You really had the opportunity to complete this in the field of pedagogical rehabilitation specialization. You invested enormous energy in developing the training, because you knew that this area had to be dealt with, you said many times: this is the future! The first grade graduated this year, and we trusted until the last moment that you would be there to congratulate them. We know how much you wanted to, but you couldn’t come anymore…
We tried to be with You in these terribly short five months the way you asked, as you felt worthy, because you said that as long as you can fight, believe, and trust, we should think of you as we knew you. As the Iron Lady, as a pillar, as one of Pető’s unavoidable figures, as a storybook, or as you put it: Mädchen für Alles. So we believed and trusted you despite the fact that your messages to us became shorter and shorter and the breaks between them became longer and longer. Finally, the message was no longer from you…. But we know you didn’t give up, you never did. That word just wasn’t in your little conductive dictionary. You accepted or acknowledged. And now we have to do the same, even though we miss you terribly. And I miss the unmistakable knocking of your shoes from the corridor, the smell of morning coffee, if you arrived first, your recipes for dishes that we didn’t even know existed, the reward after the state exam with Somlo dumplings, the stories you told over and over and in exactly the same way, the strictures that were always the longest with you. And I miss your optimism, your honesty, your energy, your ability to fight and your professional humility, your unconditional commitment to the “Case”. We miss you because you were part of it all. Nothing will ever be the same without you.
It would have been nice, but we didn’t win this time…
Tassildi, Professor Tass, Tasi, PTI, Ildi, God be with you!
On behalf of the staff of András Pető Faculty: Renáta Földesi