
Last Saturday afternoon, the oldest grandson of Flannista's Uncle Andy
delivered the following eulogy in honor of his grandfather.
No matter how many times I go over
this in my head, or change it on paper, the following words will never be
worthy of the man they describe, and for that I apologize.
For some unknown reason, they don’t make men
like my grandfather anymore. That may
seem cynical and biased, but I feel there is some truth to it. Whether you knew him as James, Jim, Leroy,
Andy, Mr. Anderson, Senior, or as my brothers and I affectionately called him,
Grandpa Cow, we all knew the same amazing man.
He was a man that, if you didn’t know him when he first walked into a
room, you sure did before he left. And
if you already had the pleasure of knowing him, his arrival put a smile on your
face. He was a son, a brother, a cousin,
a husband, a father, an uncle, a grandfather, and a friend to all. He wore all those hats with special blend of
pride and humility.
As a grandfather,
which my brothers and I knew him as, he taught us many lessons over the
years. But those lessons usually weren’t
through words. He taught us by example,
through his actions. There are
individuals who will tell you how you should act, but not heed their own
advice. It takes a wise and honorable
man to show you how you should act. And
through his actions, he taught my brothers and me how to help and respect
others. That if you are a hard-working,
honest person, good things will happen to you, and people will respect
you. And that even when life deals you a
bad hand, that love, more than anything else will keep you in the game.
Grandpa, I know that you understood you were
loved by so many, but you will never truly know how much we all loved you. In a world which is sometimes greedy, you
were more than selfless. In a world
which is sometimes corrupt, you were more than honorable. And in a world which is sometimes hurtful,
you were more than loving. As hurtful as
it is to lose you, I would take twice the pain to see you and grandma one more
time. And I guess that continuing on in
life without the two of you is the pain that will lead to our joyous reunion.
Grandpa: Dad, Mom, Jared, Chris and I miss
you so much, but we are comforted by the fact that grandma ran to the gates of
heaven to greet you. Please don’t worry
about us, just enjoy the peace and happiness that you earned, and so
deserve.
The photo in this post is of Flann's Uncle Andy holding his oldest grandson.
Flann's oldest sister is on the right. Flann is peeking around from behind.
Recent Comments