From Granddaughter to Grandfather

A Long Lived Life of 84 Years

Hey y'all, 

I am back with a post a bit different than my others! This post is all about the eulogy I wrote for my grandfathers funeral! I hope in some way you enjoy this post and hopefully it will bring more happy tears than sad ones for those of you that knew my grandpa! As always, thank you for coming and please return! 

To begin, for those that do not personally know me and what goes on in my daily life, I recently lost my grandfather on August 31st. I actually shared a birthday with my grandfather and have the luxury of being named after him! His name being Carroll and my middle name being Caroline. I always felt so close to my grandpa and have such a special place in my heart for him due to being able to share so many special birthdays with him while eating our favorite desserts! Sadly, my grandpa had been wavering in health for quite some time and we all knew eventually this time would come. Although we all knew the time to say goodbye was approaching, you can truly never prepare yourself to lose someone you immensely love and care about. Feeling so close to my grandfather, I decided to write a eulogy and read it at the funeral service. Below is my tribute to my grandfather and the last words I spoke for him and in honor of him. I am sharing my speech in the hopes that it may bring you insight into the man my grandfather was, bring comfort to you if you're in a similar situation, or even motivate you to speak on your loved one's behalf. Don't get me wrong, this speech was 100% difficult to deliver BUT it was the best decision I ever made and all the recognition from those in attendance just satisfied my feelings! 

Hello,

For those of you that don’t know me, I am Abbigail, Caroll’s granddaughter… the favorite grandchild if I might say. To begin, I would like to thank everyone for being here today to honor such an exquisite man and long-lived life of 84 years. He would be so happy to see all these wonderful faces in attendance for him today. Whether you knew him as a husband, a father, a brother, an uncle, a grandfather, or even a friend, I know you share the same appreciation for him that I do. As this day sadly approached I kept wondering what would be the best way to honor such an amazing man. I find it hard to put such a great lived life into words on a piece of paper. I struggled on where to begin, what to say, and how to deliver it. As many tears that have shed over this man and as many more that will come, I wanted to make this speech more about the happy memories we have of him. The memories that make us cry, not because he is gone, but because we are so grateful they happened and so blessed to have had such a selfless man in our lives.

I don’t know if you’ve all noticed, but grandma and grandpa created a BEAUTIFUL family of 5 outstanding children, 16 exquisite grandchildren, and 18 lovely great-grandchildren (soon to be 19, so congrats Adam & Lindsey); not only that, but every individual that joins this family became and becomes one of his own: all of us whom he loves with every inch and bone in his body. Our family continues to grow and prosper and I know he will be watching over us all, loving the ones he never got the chance to meet just as much as those of us that were blessed with his presence.

My grandfather was a great man & when I think about him, there are a few words that immediately stick out to me: outdoorsman, hard-working, selfless, humorous, and faithful. He was caring, a craftsman, a story teller, and a family man. I think you can all attest to the fact that this man would have lived every second of his life in his workshop, hunting, fishing, and drinking a beer, surrounded by all of his favorite people: his family. I think you can all also attest to the fact this this man was full of jokes, some inappropriate at times, but all ones that in some way, shape, or form, put a smile on your face.

It really is impossible to summarize the person he was in a just a few short minutes, we would honestly need at least a lifetime to do him justice. My earliest memories of my grandpa are trips to Lake Erie, where he taught all of his grandkids to fish. Something some of us would eventually get bored with and we’d just jump in and start swimming. I remember living at my grandparents briefly, and truly I would do it again in a heartbeat. First and foremost, grandma made the best homemade dinners and desserts: filling our bellies and hearts with such comfort. I remember sitting in front of the TV, watching movies and we all got our own little wicker baskets filled with potato chips. He always let us interrupt his time in the workshop to “craft” our own things with his scrap wood. When I say craft, I mean hammer some nails in piece of wood and call it an airplane, or something crazy. He let us kids have the most creative and imaginative minds. As we all grew older, the weekends to the lake became more scarce and eventually non-existent. Grandpa, although beginning to have health issues and not being able to do many things that he loved, never wavered in positivity and happiness. All this man needed to smile was some candy or potato chips, and to see his family and spend time with his bride. My last conversation with my grandpa, was a 15-minute conversation on what our favorite cookies were, and how they ranked 1-10. Honestly, I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect conversation with him.

My grandpa was a man’s man, as was his son Steve. He was a man that would support his family in anything that they did. We all hold him so dear to our hearts and have the best memories of him. I know we all have our own special reasons of why we felt close to grandpa. Mine being sharing a birthday with him and being named after him. Grandpa always used to say “Behave, and if you can’t, name it after me” something he was proud to have been completed twice. My Aunt Susie and I were blessed enough to have been named after him, Carolyn Sue & Abbigail Caroline: so I will stand strong that I am the favorite grandchild but support that she is the favorite child.. sorry mama, and sorry to my Aunt Julie and Aunt Lisa 😊.

Grandpa, I respect you greatly and more so, I appreciate you more than you will ever know.  I am going to miss my grandfather’s jokes, his smiles, his giggles, his wisdom, and his comforting and embracing hugs . I know one day, we will all meet again. Until then, do all the fishing and hunting with Uncle Steve that your hearts desire. I will make it my life’s mission to pass on your wisdom onto my future children and grandchildren in the hopes that I can make a fraction of the impact on them that you’ve made on your family in the last 84 years. I want to thank you for giving us all such amazing memories of you and working so hard for your family. lastly, i hope i marry a man that is half the man you were. We all love and miss you, always.

Again, I hope in some way you either enjoyed reading about how amazing my grandpa was, were motivated to speak on your loved one's behalf, or just comforted by the similarities that my grandfather my have with someone you lost. 

With much love and more, 

Gail