I HAD THE BEST GRANDMOTHER IN THE WHOLE WORLD

Manuel Garcés Jr.
Jul 27, 2017 · 3 min read

I am here to celebrate the life of a remarkable woman. My grandmother was loved by every person in her life. That’s not an exaggeration or a pleasantry; it’s a simple statement of fact.

There are so many superlatives to describe my grandmother: kind and generous and loving and beautiful. Oh God, was she beautiful. I never met a person who didn’t like her, which I understand. But she liked everybody, which I’ll never understand. She laughed. She loved with an open heart. And it was returned in kind by her family and her friends. She was the best.

My grandmother was the first person (actually she was the only person) to truly understand that I loved to perform poetry. And I think it’s because she was also a performer. Very gifted. Because I know there were times when she was too tired or discouraged or just plain fed up to be all that my family and I needed her to be and expected her to be: smiling, serene, wise. She was always there for us. For me. To make things better. She dug deep and found the resources to give us the best of herself. That was her gift and we were all better for it.

When I was fourteen years old, I overheard two friends of my grandmother trying to figure out how a woman as delightful as her could have raised me. A sentiment, I’m sure, that’s been echoed by many people over the years. But she always saw the best in me, and when I disappointed her (which happened frequently), she would express her displeasure mildly,and then she would tell me that she loved me anyway. That love has sustained me my whole life.

She embodied the elegance of her generation while at the same time rising above them to pursue her own goals. She had faith in herself. She was a unique individual. She never stopped learning. And I in turn will honor her by learning from her.

Although she was in a wheelchair during the last years of her life, her spirit was free. She encouraged me to try things, to take chances. She warned me that I might get hurt along the way, but she guaranteed it would be worth the trip. She wanted me to find true love because it had been the sustaining grace of her life.

I didn’t say goodbye to my grandmother. She was looking out the window of her sitting room, and I waved as I left the house. I wish now that I had gone upstairs and kissed her. I wish that I told her that I loved her. But I know that she knew.

Everyone wants to pay tribute to a loved one who has passed away. This is how you do it. You tell someone you love them — one extra time. You take the extra thirty seconds to go upstairs and make sure they know — make sure you tell them — how much they mean to you.

May I thank you all for reading this today. My grandmother would be so moved by your outpouring of love and attention. She so would love you all in return. I believe there is a heaven, and I believe she is there now. Probably pleased — and maybe a little embarrassed by all of this attention. But I know she understands how deeply she touched us all and how irreplaceable she is in all our lives.

Manuel Garcés Jr.

Written by

“I love you.” Easy to say and straight to the point.

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