I wanted to say this eulogy today as
a gift to my grandfather. Of course, he deserves so much more
than I could ever give him.
I always felt a special bond between me and Grandpa. At dinner
my seat was always next to him. He would always have little conversations
with me and serve only me food.
My Grandfather was the type of Grandpa who dressed up as Winnie
the Pooh in 95 degree weather and bought me a 3 foot chocolate
rabbit for my first Easter. (It was taller than I was.)
My sister, Jessica, remembers the way he would call her Jessie
and how he would make her breakfast when she slept over there.
She also remembers him giving her a stuffed dog with backward
feet that he got from Playland.
For my brother, Paul, he was the type of Grandpa that picked
him up from work without asking any questions when he was stranded
for a ride, and collected stamps for him ten years ago. He always
said that he would give them to him when he turned 21. But, for
some reason, he decided to give them to him 5 years earlier on
his 16th birthday. At that time, none of us imagined that it
would be the last birthday of Paul's that he would see.
He told Tina that she was so gorgeous that he wanted to marry
her, so they had a little ceremony and exchanged rings. Many
people say that he shouldn't have had the knee surgery, but he
wanted it so he could play with Tina without being in pain.
And who could forget the proud look on his face when he held
little Frankie. When he was sedated and he finally woke up a
little, one of the first things he said was Happy Birthday because
he had missed Frankie's first birthday when he was drugged.
Of course, before he was a Grandfather, he was a loving Father
to my Dad, my Aunt Mary, my Aunt Donna, and my Aunt Debbie.
He would make his family pancakes every weekend, alternating
regular and French topped with peanut butter, jelly, and syrup
(which might sound gross to anyone not in our family).
He would plan different trips to take on Sundays; he always believed
that Sundays were family days.
On these trips, he would always take "shortcuts". Of
course, these shortcuts always took twice as long as the normal
length of the trip. Then again, he was taking side roads to avoid
tolls.
In the car he would make up songs about each of his kids to keep
them occupied.
And my Grandmother has more memories than any of us.
One of my memories of his love for her is a few years ago when
he bough a bracelet as a surprise for her. Before he gave it
to her, he showed it to me and I could tell how proud he was
to give it to his wife.
My Grandpa loved hot-dogs and plain cheese sandwiches.
He also loved Rye Playland from bringing me home stuffed animals
when I was little to enjoying the shows recently.
He was a chef and would always bother my Grandmother while she
was cooking. One time she had a fit when he threw hot-dogs in
her sauce.
He used to say always that nobody could make French pancakes
as good as his.
He loved to cook bread, tons of bread.
And Grandpa couldn't have enough barbecues.
He even loved cooking shows, along with war films.
My Grandpa was a very loving man. Everybody was Angel or Sweetheart.
You couldn't come over or leave his house without giving him
a kiss.
Even in the hospital he was always blowing kisses.
As a matter of fact, on his last night with us, the only motion
he could make was to blow kisses.
With All My Love, Leanne T. Gentile (4/06/01)
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