My Grandma Popovich died last month. Many people had nice things to say about Grandman, this is the eulogy that I gave at her service.
Grandma Popovich is an amazing woman. She is one of the most Godly women I have ever met. She has an extraordinary talent, that I know came from God. You see, when she loves someone, she loves them completely, without reservation, with every shred of her heart. Most of us do not love like that. We hold something back. Our hearts only have so many pieces, and when you give a piece to someone else and they break it, it's gone. So we hold something back.
That's not the way Grandma works. When she loves someone, she loves them completely. She loves unafraid. I think that Grandma knows something about love that it took me more than 30 years to figure out. She knows that, though your heart may be fragile, God gave it an amazing ability to heal and to grow and to become stronger. You give your heart to someone, and yes, they might break it, but if you accept God's gift, it will heal. It will become stronger and it will grow. Grandma taught me that.
My heart is breaking right now, it's been breaking for three weeks. But I know that it will heal. Grandma taught me that. I can't regret the fact that I've loved my Grandma so much just because of the pain I'm going through now. It is a good, Godly love and I am a better person for it. I can't hold myself back from loving others completely because there are so many people who need love. You see, it's not about me, it's about the effect I have on others. Grandma taught me that too.
Most of us make our decisions based on the effect those decisions will have on us. Grandma made her decisions based on the effect those decisions had on others. She loved people completely, because they needed it. She forgave people she loved because they needed forgiveness. And she loved a lot of people because a lot of people needed her love.
Grandma told mom that she wants us to be happy and celebrate. She knew when she said it that we would be sad, that we were going to miss her, but she said she wanted us to be happy and to celebrate. I've had a hard time with that. I love my grandma very much and I already miss her. I know I'll see her again someday but my heart is breaking right now, and knowing that I'll see her later is of very little comfort to me now. She knew it would be that way for many of us, but she said it anyways. She said she wanted us to be happy when she knew we would be sad. Why?
Because she knew WE would need it. She thought about others first and she knew we would need to celebrate.
So how do we honor her wish when we are so sad? This is how I'm going to do it. I'm going to remember what my Grandma taught me, and apply those lessons in my own life. That's how she will remain a part of my life. Every day, for the rest of my life.
Grandma taught me many things, but for me her greatest lesson was this; when you love someone, love them completely. And love a LOT of people. She also taught me how to make strudel, and that's good too.
