Funeral For A Friend

His name was my first word and some of my first steps were walking towards him. I remember how I would beg my mom every visit to spend the night at their house. When I spent the night there, I started off in Grandpa's office, where he had a small twin bed and a little play area for my siblings and me, but in the middle of the night I would get scared. I would run to Grandpa's room and sleep in the middle of Grandma and him. He told me, "Everything will be okay", and although he may have lied to me a few times, I believed everything Rich said. Then, in the morning, I would get up at six and go work on some house project with him.1

Rich may not have always been the perfect person, but believe me, he was an amazing Grandfather. He loved all of us so much, even if he didn't say it all the time. You could tell he loved us. He would do anything for any of us. When Katherine and I both spent the night, she always had to be taken home around one in the morning because she got homesick, and Grandpa would always stop at McDonald's to get her a Big Mac. Grandpa came to every one of Derek's basketball games and practices. The games won't be the same without him sitting in the stands yelling, "Shoot for the bankboard!" He knew all the parents and kids on every team. He went to home games, away games, bad games, and good games. Even when Derek's team lost, Grandpa still took us out for dinner after. 2

Rich didn't have many friends. He did whatever he wanted whenever he wanted, and didn't take no for an answer. His determination and strong will scared some people, but made me want to be just like him. If I wasn't his granddaughter, I would still be his friend. I never called him Grandpa because we were more than that, we really were best friends. He treated me like an adult ever since I can remember. He did spoil me, buying me almost whatever I wanted, but he made me do chores at his house like sweeping or washing the windows; and if I didn't pick up my toys from the toy room within a certain amount of time he would throw them away. If one of us lied, fought, broke something, or misbehaved, we can be expecting a spanking from the flyswatter shaped like a hand. He would always say sorry afterword's though and explain why what we did was bad. 3

Grandpa didn't get to graduate from high school, but he was still very smart. He taught me a lot of stuff; how to bake a German Chocolate cake, where to hide money, how to fix a clock, how to build a chair, how to paint. He always encouraged us to be who wanted to be. When I was very little, I wanted to be a doctor for Halloween and when I grew up- so Grandpa bought me a real stethoscope. Katherine wanted to be a singer and Grandpa bought her a an echo-microphone and Barbie karaoke. Derek wanted to be a basketball player and a fisherman, so Grandpa supplied him with a plastic fish price basketball goal that is still in his room today. No matter who we want to be, no matter how many times we change that, he would still love us no matter what.4

Rich loved carpentering and making things with his hands. He loved it when others took an interest in his creations. He was truly something special; determined, successful, responsible. He had these little remedies he always told us. "If you get poison oak, have a dog pee on it." He had this idea that you should brush your teeth with Baking Soda and Peroxide. Lots of people he knew thought it was idiotic, but a few years ago Colgate made toothpaste with those ingredients. 5

As unmanly as it sounds, Rich was a great cook. He made the best homemade noodles on this planet. I remember the rhubarb pies in the summer, cabbage soup in the spring, potato salad near Thanksgiving. Rich's favorite food was black cherry pies from Gray's. He loved those pies. I did too. 6

I would like to recall a memory of Rich that has been passed down to me as a story. It was race day, a year after my parents got married and were living in Speedway right near the tracks. People kept coming up to the neighbors in the court and asking to park. Grandpa decided to charge people twenty five dollars for parking. He parked people all along the streets, in all the yards, all over the court. A neighbor asked "Can he do that? Is that legal?" Rich gave that neighbor part of the profit. Rich later instilled the rule, "It's only illegal if you get caught" upon us.7

Grandpa loved Lois. He visited her every day no matter what her condition was and took her lunch. He had her name tattooed on his arm. He took good care of her and tried to do the right thing for her whenever he had the chance. I think Grandpa always did try to do the right thing even when it was the hard thing to do, although it didn't always work out right for him.8

There is a time for dying, there is a time for laughter. There is a time for joy, and a time for sadness. This may seem like the time for sadness to some of you, but Rich would want it to be a time of happiness. He would want us to be happy. When my other grandfather died, the first person I called was Rich. He told me "Grandpa wouldn't want you to be sad". It may take a while to adjust to Grandpa being gone. It will be hard for me to sit in the stands at Derek's basketball games and not hear Grandpa scream "Shoot for the bankboard!" It will be hard for my mother and Uncle Brian to be in Monrovia without thinking of Rich. There is so much of him left here. Rich was a strong man and he left a strong legacy. 9

I would like to end today in a prayer. Not for Rich exactly, but for you. For Brian, for my mother Sharon, for my sister Katherine and brother Derek, for Debbie and Mike, for Bob Marley and for Butch. These are the people Rich viewed as his friends. These are the people who loved him, accepted him for who he was, and believed in him. These were, as Rich and I called them, our O'Buddies. Brian, you are the image of Lois but have the determination and inner strength of Rich. Rich always called you "Buck" and loved to sit out by the barn at your house. Mom, Grandpa told so many stories about you. He was proud of you and Uncle Brian. He glowed when he talked about you guys. Katherine and Derek, Grandpa supported you both in whatever you did one hundred percent. He wanted the best for both of you. Debbie and Mike, Grandpa used to call me and say "I'm going down the boat with Mike and Debbie" almost every week. You guys got him out of the house and doing things when no one else could. Uncle Bob, you treated Rich like a brother. You would always be there to take him out to dinner and talk about the town with him. He really enjoyed going to Poe's with you. Butch, you remind us all of Grandpa in so many ways. He loved you a lot and treated you like a son. You had Rich's respect which was hard to earn and even harder to keep. 10

I will begin my prat