My father delivered a beautiful eulogy today for my great-grandmother who passed away this week just shy of her 103rd birthday. She was old enough to remember the 19th Amendment, two World Wars and countless social movements. Good morning. My name is Wilfred John Torres, Jr. Many of you know me as Wilfred, Willy or Wil. My grandmother was the one person in this world who knew me as Slugger. Today I officially retire that name forever. My grandparents gave me that name when I was only 3 years old. I was named that because I took a huge risk and stood up for myself. My nana Catherine Rodriguez Donato made a lifetime out of doing exactly that. Nana took the biggest risk of all, she got on a boat in a small town in Puerto Rico and came to the United States and began a new life. Nana had nearly nothing, as I said nearly nothing. What she did have was the one thing that my family was built on. That one thing was God and church. We were all raised in the church, I was raised in this very church. Well this church before its many physical changes. My grandmother loved God, She loved him so much that with her last breath she was praying. Let me tell you all a bit about my grandmother. She was a rebel, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a missionary, a life coach, a referee and more than anything else a teacher. Anything good that I have ever done in my life is directly related to a lesson that my nana taught me. Anytime I have ever failed… can be directly tied to a lesson I forgot or a lesson I didn’t learn. At the end of every lesson Nana would remind me to always fear God. This Nana and I never agreed on that, but I’ll get back to that in a moment. My grandmother’s lessons weren’t all life lessons. My grandmother from the age of 3 or 4 reminded me that she wouldn’t be here forever. She taught me to cook and to clean, she taught me to sew and to do laundry. She would look me in the eyes and say “Wilfred I won’t be around forever and you will need to be able to care for yourself”. Well folks she may not have lived forever but wow from here it so feels like she did. Nearly 103 years, come on folks that’s as close to forever as anyone could ask for. I need to be honest, I can make a few meals, I am a bit sloppy, sewing and laundry? I can do both but not to nana’s standards. I want to share a memory of my grandmother. From the age 3 to about 8 my grandmother took my sister Cathy and I on vacation every summer. Vacation for Nana involved putting us on a Caser Tour bus and taking us to some place that Nana wanted to go to. We saw places that most small children didn’t see. Nana liked what Nana liked. Every year my mother would meet the bus upon our return. Every year Nana would exit the bus with Cathy and I and immediately tell my mother “never again!” Twelve months later we would be back on the bus off on another adventure. The last tour we took was to Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida. We sat on a tour bus for 3 days driving to Florida, spent one day at Disney World and then back on the bus for the 3 day ride back. Nana said that her grandchildren needed to be one of the first to see it. We were, Disney had just opened. As much as she hated those buses, she loved us. Nana always put family first. Nana taught me a love of family, a love of country and a love of God. Her faith was her rock she based everything on it. But Nana feared God. She feared his disapproval and his wrath. She feared that if she didn’t do everything perfect he would be angry. About a year ago my mother was in the hospital so Nana was at the house with Aides. Nana again as always reminded me that God loved me and would care for me. She told that she wasn’t always happy with my life choices but that God and her love and will always love me. She told me that God wanted me to do my best and to share my gifts. If I did this that God would never desert me. Nana even at 101 was able to grow and to change. God loves us and wants us to love him. Not from fear but from our hearts. My grandmother was a woman of God. Of all she accomplished in her life that was the one thing she would have wanted to be remembered as. Thank you.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 02:23:35 +0000
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