Howdy, everyone. It’s been a very somber holiday season to say the least. On Sunday, December 16, 2012, my grandmother (on my mother’s side) suffered a massive stroke that put her in hospice until Thursday the 20th when she passed away. She and my grandfather lived in Florida but he wanted her buried back in New York, so it was arranged for her wake to take place on December 26th and the funeral on December 27th. To say that this has been a tough couple of weeks for me is an understatement and I can think of no better time to pay my respects than now, when wrestling news and angles are put on hiatus until the new year. The following is a transcript of the eulogy I wrote for her funeral mass earlier today:
I’ve been a teacher for the past seven years. However, no amount of schooling or experience can prepare one for raising a child, let alone three. My grandmother was the ultimate teacher. Integrity, self-reliance, compassion, and intelligence are traits I see ingrained in my mother and her two sisters; qualities my grandmother bestowed upon them at an early age which have been passed down to my generation.
I remember one year during a family visit to their Florida home, my grandmother and I were watching one of her favorite TV shows, The Golden Girls, and I turned to Grandma and asked her how difficult it was to raise three children. She responded with, “Don’t you mean four?” I looked at her quizzically and she motioned with her head to her left. I looked up and saw my grandfather at the kitchen table, eating pickled artichoke hearts out of a huge jar. He looked back at us like a raccoon caught eating out of a dumpster. I smiled and she turned back to me. “Three out of four’s not bad, right?” she quipped.
That’s the kind of woman my grandmother was. She wouldn’t let anything get the best of her and did what she could to raise three wonderful children and, vicariously, five grandchildren. In closing, to steal a line from the theme song of one of her favorite shows, “Thank you for being a friend.”
You truly are our golden girl.
Next week is a new year, folks. I can’t wait to see what it brings us.
So long, Grandma, and thanks for all the memories.
