Almost a year ago, my Pepere was promoted to Heaven. His life was well lived loving his family and serving His God. About a week ago, his wife, my Memere joined him in glory. She faithfully served her friends and family and loved to give labors of love to those she met.
Although my heart aches for the loss of my beloved Memere & Pepere, I am so happy that I KNOW we will one day be reunited on the streets of gold, singing praises at the throne of our King. As a way to celebrate their lives, I thought I would share a few thoughts that I wrote to be shared at each of their funerals, as well as some pictures of us, through the years.
What Pepere gave me cannot be measured by the number of dollars to his name, the size of his house, or the amount of “stuff” he accumulated. Those things were not important to Pep. The most important thing to him was us, his family. He loved us, he gave us his time, and he laughed with us. As his youngest grandchild, I may not have the clearest memories of everything we did together, but I do remember this: Pepere loved me and he showed me that every day. He took an interest in me and in my interests. He told me about his favorite musicians and entertainers, and how he thought they were great, but that I was so much better. When I got my growth spurt, he starting greeting me by saying “Hey Shorty. How’s the weather up there?” (If you didn’t read that quote with a classic New England accent, you didn’t get the full effect!) He’d come to my sports games and ache for my losses and revel in my successes. If he were here today, he would undoubtedly be sharing my top ten highlights with everyone. I know I speak for all of us when I say, that nothing we could ever say would truly encapsulate the legacy that Pep left for us. We miss him so much, but we also rejoice because we have hope. Not an “I hope so” kind of hope, but a confident expectation that Pepere is rejoicing with His Savior in Heaven today. And we look forward to the day when we will see him again in the presence of our good God.
Memere is one of the sweetest ladies you could ever meet, and she just got sweeter every day. On top of that, Mem loved giving gifts. From pillowcases and scarves for her grandkids to hats that she knit for all her great grandbabies, each gift she gave was a labor of love! There are so many funny and special memories I have of Mem!
First, whenever she heard music, she would hum along. It didn’t matter the time or place, she loved to hum and sing. More recently, I got to have a few breakfast dates with Mem. It was so special to be able to sit and hear all the stories of her childhood over a cup of coffee and a donut (that she bought special for our date.) Finally, when we told Mem that Kaelyn was pregnant, her reaction was priceless. Her jaw dropped wide open in excitement. After that, every time we would walk into the room Mem would walk over to Kaelyn and reach out her hand to feel the baby. During her last days, Mem gave us a pink sweater for our baby girl that she had made.
We wish that Memere could’ve met our little girl here on this earth, but it will just make our Heavenly reunion that much sweeter!
