“I expect to pass through this world but once;
any good thing therefore that I can do, or any
kindness that I can show to any fellow creature,
let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it,
for I shall not pass this way again.”

For the longest time, I have been trying to get my site opened up with blogging software, but I never seemed to get the motivation to start writing. This weekend I had to attend my Grandmother’s funeral, and I got to thinking that it’d be appropriate to open this up a little by writing something meaningful about her. The quote above was used by my Uncle to start his eulogy; how he was able to speak at his own mother’s funeral I’m not sure I’ll ever know, but I’m very proud of him for doing it. As he said yesterday, the quote above pretty much summed up my Grandmother; she was a very kind and generous lady who was always doing things to make others feel better, whether she knew them or not. She was active in tons of Church-related activities for as long as I knew her, but beyond that she was just a genuinely nice lady who was well-liked by anyone that had the opportunity to talk to her.

My Aunt Alice and I spoke about her amazing ability to just befriend everyone and anyone that she got the opportunity to talk with. She told me one episode that occurred at her apartment in NYC that was typical of my Grandmother. As she got on into her nineties, my Grandmother rarely went out at night; if she did it was considered quite a big deal. At one point my Aunt’s apartment building was having their version of a ‘block party’-the whole building was congregating outside to chat, have something to eat, and just say hi to one another. Well my Grandmother decided she was going, and so she went. My Aunt laughed then, saying that she was ready to go after about an hour or so of chatting, but she couldn’t because my Grandmother was still talking it up with the whole building. Everyone that met her found her very interesting; she had so many interesting life experiences and was so sharp, even at nearly 95, that she could talk to you about any or all of them if you had the time to listen.

As we were saying our final good-byes at the funeral mass, it really hit me then; I looked around at all the friends, colleagues, and acquaintances of my father, my Aunts, and my Uncle that had come up; at all the relatives that hadn’t seen my Grandmother in years; and at cousins of mine that I’d never met and who’d only met her once, and I realized that these folks had not just come up to give us-their friends and family-their condolences. They were up here to say good bye themselves. Our friends were Grandma’s friends too, and everyone of them had lost someone along with us.

I can only hope that I have the good fortune to live a life so long, rich with experience, and as filled with good friends as my Grandmother had.

So long, Ruth. Until we come knocking on the door to spend the night, like Uncle Dennis said, sit down, have a rest with Grandpa, and keep the front light on for us. I promise not to muck with your TV when I get there (not too much anyway).