Rest In Peace, Lola.

Yesterday was my grandma's funeral. This post is the eulogy I gave at the ceremony. 

Hello everyone, my name is Max Jones and I am one of Lynn Vegafria’s five grandchildren. I’m honored to speak before you all today. 

People have many names for their grandmothers. Grandy , Nana, Grams or Grammy, Gigi, Nonna, or maybe Abuela. The list could go on and on forever. Many knew my grandma as Lynn, but I knew her as Lola. To those of you who don’t know, that means Grandma in Tagalog, my late grandfather’s native language. Until I got to college, I had never heard of anyone calling their grandma Lola before. I felt special that I had my own word to call my Lola.

As many of you know, I didn’t grow up here in West Bend, Wisconsin. I was born and raised in Cooperstown, New York. Almost every summer, my family embarked on the 13 ½ hour drive, through 6 different states, to Wisconsin. We’d wake up at 4 in the morning and just hit the road. To be honest, the 27 total hours of being trapped in a car with my two sisters wasn’t something I particularly looked forward to. It started getting worse as I got older, taller, and couldn’t fit in the car seat. My favorite part of the journey was always the moment we pulled into my grandparents driveway. My Lola would be standing there with humongous smiles on her face waiting to give us all huge hugs. At the end of our trip, she would stand in the exact same spot waving to our car goodbye until we were finally out of sight. 

When my sisters and I were younger, my Lola loved to take us out to different child oriented activities. Whether it was a zoo, pig race, waterpark or theme park, my Lola always had something to entertain us with. One time, we were driving to the Wisconsin Dells and stopped at an A&W restaurant. I’ve always loved soda and A&W root beer was no different. They had a wide array of different branded mugs on display and I really wanted one. We ended up leaving and I was left disappointed. Later in the week at my birthday dinner, my Lola pulled out an A&W mug and set it on the table. I never saw her purchase it, but I was so happy. I still have that mug all these years later. It sits right on my dorm room desk and I hold my pens and coins in it. I may not drink root beer from it everyday, but it is put to a good use.

I have numerous memories with my Lola across all the visits to Wisconsin, but some of my favorites are also when she made the long trek to upstate New York. My Lola would fly to New York to spend a few weeks at our house.  She would usually get to our house a week before Christmas and stay until mid-January. Luckily enough, this meant she was in town for the tail end of football season. My Lola was a diehard Packer’s fan. She came wearing a light up Aaron Rodgers jersey to every game we’d watch. I wasn’t particularly a huge fan of the Packer’s, but Lola's energy definitely made watching the Packers play much more entertaining. My roommate this past year at college is a big fan of the Packers and he convinced me to go to a game against the Giants at MetLife stadium. When my Lola found out I went to a Packers game she was so excited. She was even more excited to see that I was wearing a whole Packers outfit. 

To be honest, I wasn’t always the best grandson. I loved to push my Lola’s buttons and see how hard I could get on her nerves before she broke. I’d say inappropriate words at improper times, make absurd claims that she disagreed with, and purposely go against whatever she said. If she said white, I said black. I’d always make excuses not to come visit Wisconsin over the last few years. When I did visit, I tried to find a way to spend the whole time playing golf or go shopping in Milwaukee. My Lola and I didn’t always get along, but all she did was want the best for me and love me. The last conversation I had with my Lola was in January after my grandfather’s funeral. She thanked me for speaking at the service, hugged me and told me she loved me. I didn’t know that would be our last conversation and I wish I did, so I could’ve held onto that hug a little longer. 

I know you all have some happy memories to share about my Lola, and I hope to hear as many of them as possible. I’ll miss my Lola dearly and I know she’ll be watching over me with my Lolo by her side for the rest of my time. I love you Lola, I hope you are up in heaven riding in Lolo’s red convertible, with the roof down and a huge smile on your face.