A life to love

Posted on February 8, 2010
Filed Under Boston, Family, Fashion, Food, Friendship, Love, Music, Quotes, Travel, Weather |

“He loved life and he had a life to love.”–My dad at my grandpa’s celebration of life service

So far, the month of February has been an absolute whirlwind. I can’t believe it was a mere one week ago that we were laughing it up at the ice fishing derby. Since then, a lot has happened, mostly relating to my grandfather’s death last Sunday. This weekend, the whole family trekked down to sunny (and windy!) Florida to celebrate his life and be together in this difficult time. Making the best of a bad situation, brother bear came down to stay with me on Friday night and Mike and I took him to Highland Kitchen for a very yummy dinner. I have been to this restaurant tons of times and I’m never disappointed–the service is great, the food is delicious and imaginative and the atmosphere is fun. Brother bear definitely won the prize for the best dish ordered with a pork shoulder cooked with bacon and served with garlic mashed potatoes and collard greens. After our great meal, we hit the sack so we could get up early on Saturday. We had an uneventful trip down to Florida, with the biggest problem being that we ate fast food twice in one day–yikes!

The service took place at my grandparents’ church that they have been attending services for 22 years. It was a full house as friends and family packed the pews to remember my grandpa. It was especially nice to see some old family friends make the trip from their respective Florida towns to show support. My dad and his two brothers eulogized my grandfather beautifully–each touching on many of his remarkable qualities–his natural teaching ability, his stellar golf game, his unmatched piano playing and his zest for life. My cousin, Tyler, bravely got up at the church and played “Danny Boy,” which brought the place to tears.

After the service, we all went back to a lovely reception full of people who have known my grandpa over the years. We even had a very special treat, organized by my other cousin, Brett. A few years ago, he had recorded my grandpa playing the piano and belting out tunes and we were fortunate enough to have my grandpa entertain us the whole night through with this recording. At the reception, we reminisced about his wild outfits (think lots of bright colors, argyle and other patterns), love for ice cream (this has been passed on to the younger generations) and enduring happiness (he always had a twinkle in his eye).

I picked out this quote for use at the service and I think it sums up the situation very well:

“When you are sorrowful / look into your heart / and you shall see that / you are weeping /

for that which has been / your delight“–Kahlil Gibran

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