A lot of friends and family weren't able to make the service due to health reasons. Many of them are older, and have serious medical conditions. They aren't able to drive very far, and the trip to West Virginia is pretty far for a lot of them. For Dad and myself, the trip is 900 miles up and 900 miles back.
Not to mention the temperatures have been dropping to below freezing, and not everyone can handle such extreme temperature drops. Due to the weather West Virginia is experiencing this time of year, the roads can have rain, sleet, snow, and ice on them. The roads are better than they used to be years ago, but the twists and turns around the mountains can be very tricky to maneuver.
Even the people who couldn't or wouldn't drive can't book a flight this time of year. Think about it. It's the holiday season, and flights are booked solid until after the new year. So let's be honest, there is never a good time to pass away, but there were so many factors that made it very difficult to attend my Grandmother's funeral service during this time of year.
I know many friends and relatives wanted to attend, and couldn't. Believe me, no one is upset that they couldn't attend due to so many conditions. When I think of the people I would expect to be there, I have to remember that so many have passed away. It is a blessing and a curse. My Grandmother lived to 87 years of age, but she outlived so many of her friends and family.
The service was begun with an opening prayer by Pastor Lenny Romans. My Grandmother's obituary was then read. I was then asked to give my little talk. My cousin Crystal followed with a speech of her own. My cousin Melody then sang the full rendition of "Amazing Grace." Then Lonnie "Tommy to his friends" Scraggs gave a speech. Melody sang another song. To close out the service, Pastor Lenny Romans gave his speech. Overall, the service lasted about an hour and a half.
At Franklin Cemetery we gathered around where my Grandmother's casket would be buried. Pastor Lenny Romans gave a small speech. Afterwards, we were each able to take a rose from the arrangement that was placed on her coffin.
I wanted to have my speech/ eulogy/ little talk posted for those who weren't able to attend. That way, they can know what was said, and how I feel about my Grandmother. The following is what I spoke.
Hello. My name is Adrian Ray Long. Grandma Betty was simply, "Maw-maw" to me.
Back in 2011 my gall bladder tried to kill me. I had to have major surgery that left a hole
in my stomach. As a result I ended up
being off of work for four months. Once
I had recovered enough that my stomach was healed, my Sister Melanie and I
headed up to spend some vacation time in West Virginia with my Grandmother.
We had lots of fun.
Grandma, Melanie, and myself drove around took care of a lot of little
things, visited a few people, and ate at Grandma’s second favorite restaurant,
Bob Evans. It was there that my
Grandmother took on a real serious tone and told me, “When the time comes, I
want you to speak.” I have to admit, I
was taken aback a little. My Grandmother
had never said something so serious and heavy to me before.
I thought about that for a few days. It was then a few days later that again, the
three of us were eating in a restaurant like Bob Evans, that I had the courage
to ask her. I said, “Grandma, this is
pretty heavy. Speaking at your
funeral? What I am supposed to
say?” She told me that I could talk
about anything I wanted. I could speak
about eating at the restaurant. It
didn’t matter as long as I spoke.
And while I have spoken about the restaurant, I do want to
say something that would be worthy of the woman that she was. What I want to speak about today is defining
moments. There are many here that can
speak of their memories of my Grandmother from the nineteen thirties to the
present day. I want to speak about the
Grandmother I knew. And I can’t speak
about my Grandmother without speaking of my wonderful Grandfather Ray.
I have many memories of my Grandfather. But there is one memory of him that defines
him to me. He was holding a two week old
kitten in the palm of his hand. The
kitten was very small. If you’ve ever
had to deal with the semi-feral cats in West Virginia, you know they aren’t
that trusting of people. Yet, this
little kitten was on it back, in my Grandfather’s palm, letting my Grandfather
pet its belly while it meowed happily.
That sums up the kind of man my Grandfather was. Even the smallest and feeblest of creatures
trusted and loved him.
The defining memory of my Grandmother is from when I was
six. It was my first time in the
hospital, and I was getting my tonsils removed, adenoids taken out, and tubes
put in my ears all at the same time. It
was rough. But my Grandmother came down
to Florida to help my Father out. He
told her, “I need help,” and she was there that day.
When I woke up from surgery I couldn’t so much as talk, it
was more like making a croaking sound. I
would try to talk to my Grandmother, and I couldn’t even understand
myself. You all know that she was deaf
in one ear, but she still managed to understand me, even when I couldn’t
understand myself. In the toughest
moment of my life up to that point, she was there beside me. That was the best gift that a scared six year
old could get.
The wonderful thing about defining memories is that each of
us has a different defining moment of another person. Your defining moments of my Grandparents may
have taken place before I was born. I
want you to share those memories.
Because they are gifts to be treasured, but also shared.
My Grandparents had a lot of the same interests, but they
were also very different. However, I
think their relationship could be described by the Ancient Chinese Philosophy
of the Yin and the Yang. It means that
forces that are opposite or contrary can actually be complimentary to each
other.
Let me explain. My
Grandfather was a man of few words, but that’s okay because my Grandmother
talked enough for both of them. My
Grandfather liked working in the garden, and my Grandmother liked telling him
what to do in the garden. Anything my
Grandfather brought in from the garden, my Grandmother would cook and spice
up. As long as that spice was either
salt, pepper, or sugar. Sometimes
vinegar. My Grandfather very calm,
cool, and collected. He’s the one who
had to keep my Grandmother from knocking someone’s head in during their younger
days.
It’s no secret that after the war my Grandfather had what
they called a “lost weekend.” That “lost
weekend,” ended up lasting three years. However,
my Grandmother had a strength within her that helped my Grandfather get his
life on track. And as such, together,
they were able to get their lives moving forward.
My Grandmother tended to speak in absolutes. As in, “This was the best sandwich, or that
was the worst pain that’s ever been.” So
I know she won’t mind when I say she was the best Grandma that ever was. And how could I disagree?
I was able to have pie.
Lots of pie. As a child she would
listen to me when a lot of other adults would brush off a child. She never forgot to send a birthday card. She always told me, “Maw-maw loves you.” She also let me win at playing cards when I
was kid. I know Dad is thinking, “She
never did that for me.”
One absolute I can say is that, she never said a mean thing
to me. Never. Not once.
That’s not to say we didn’t disagree about some things, but she was
never mean, rude, or insulting.
Looking back at that day in Bob Evans, my Grandmother knew I
was going to be giving this speech one day.
While I am sad, I am not angry.
My Grandmother had a heart attack about a year before I was born, and
she lived. She had another one, and she
lived. She’s had I think, 15 stints in
her arteries as well as an oblation, and she lived. She had cancer in her kidney. They took her kidney out, and she lived.
She had a heart blockage on Thanksgiving a few years
ago. Dad held her in the back seat of my
Ford Focus as I drove to the emergency room.
I have to admit, I was scared and ran a red light to turn into the ER
when no one was coming. I talked to her
the whole way as my Boy Scout First Aid, Emergency Preparedness, and Lifesaving
training had taught me so long ago.
Later on she told me she could hear every word I said, even if she
couldn’t respond. And I want you to think
about that. She could hear every word I
said.
I think back to that time I spent in the hospital as a kid,
and how she was there for me. In the
toughest of times, I was glad I could be there to help her out just like she
did for me.
I am not angry. I am
sad, but I am not angry. There was a
chance that I was never going to be able to have her in my life. I feel fortunate that she has been in my life
as long as she has.
When my Grandfather passed away my Grandmother was at the
edge of his coffin and said, “We were married over 50 years, but it just wasn’t
enough. It wasn’t enough time.” I am reminded of John Mellencamp’s Grandmother
who told him, “I have lived to 100 years old, but life is short, even in its
longest days.”
As I close out I ask you to talk to each other. Keep the lines of communication open. Do away with old grievances. Tell each other you love one another. And please, share your defining moment of my
Grandmother with one another. Share it
with me. Even if that defining moment is
something as simple as eating lunch at a Bob Evans restaurant. Thank you everyone.
The truth is I wanted to give her the best. I wanted to do right by her. After all that she and my Grandfather have done for me, it was the least I could do. As I said in my speech, my Grandmother told me she wanted me to speak at her funeral back in 2011. I'll admit, I have thought many times about what I would say, and how I could get it right. My speech clocked in around ten minutes. Believe it or not, I actually, "cut the fat." I trimmed it down to best parts of what I had written. I honestly could have spoken for half an hour.
As I finish up this blog I will repeat what I said in my speech. I am sad, but I am not angry. I feel lucky to have had my Grandmother in my life as long as I had. In contrast, I am reminded about what my Grandmother said about being married to my Grandfather. It just wasn't enough time. When I digest this all through my head I can only think, "I am sad, and there just wasn't enough time to spend with my Grandmother."
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