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Well, for those of you that haven’t heard, my grandfather passed away two weeks ago (on the 7th of May). I wasn’t there for his memorial service or his funeral, since I couldn’t fly to the Philippines because of work and school, so I figured I should still write a “eulogy” for him – just for my own sake…a way to get everything off my chest and say everything I’ve been meaning to. I’ve been putting this off for a while, but I think it’s finally time to actually sit down and compose something.
Rogelio Del Rosario De Leon is my grandfather. (I say “is” because although he is no longer alive, he will never stop being my grandfather.) We all called him Tatay, a Filipino word for “father” – whether we were his child or grandchild – because we were all his children. A true head of our family, he is currently survived by his wife, Gertrudes Margallo De Leon, 5 children, 17 grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren.
My grandfather was one of my very first best friends. He was one of the first people who took care of me, when I was born. He would make me paper airplanes, and use rice as the glue for it. He loved to garden, when I was younger. He would go into the backyard of my house every afternoon and tend to his plants. Sometimes, I would even help him, or just go out there with him and watch. He loved watching “Star Trek” and enjoyed watching sports, especially baseball. It was hilarious how heated he would get when the Giants were losing. If my grandmother was watching with him, and they were losing, he would scream at her, telling her to leave the room in which they were watching, saying she was bad luck. He would without fail wear a hat – it was his “signature style”, and have that distinct “clean” smell of men’s cologne that none of us forget. It was little and simple memories, such as these, that I remember about him.
To us, his “children”, he was a “jack of all trades”. Although he did not graduate from a high-class university, or attain a higher level of schooling, he knew quite a lot. He was always up to date on current events and news of the world. He read and wrote all the time. He was a gardener, a cook…but most of all, he was his own engineer and architect. He would make all sorts of gadgets, and build all sorts of things. It’s pretty ironic that that was his favorite hobby, since his first name means “spear or renowned spearman”. He wasn’t a fighter or a warrior, but he loved making tools and he had the courage of a fighter.
Tatay was blind in one eye since childhood and had difficulty hearing. What was remarkable about him was that his incapability did not make him half a man. In fact, he pushed himself to excel more because of it. That was what he passed on to all of us…he taught us and pushed us to be the best that we could be – especially when it came to our education. He wanted us to reach far beyond what was available to him, during his time. We knew how much he and my grandmother sacrificed to send my mother and her siblings to school. He was often strict about studies, and until he died, he was always asking me when I would finish law school. I knew he taught us to work for ourselves, for our own benefit, but I also dedicated my hard work to him and making him happy was and still is my inspiration. When he passed away, I was terribly angry, because I thought he would be alive when I graduated. It was just a few days before my last final examination of my law school career. I wanted to be able to tell him, “Tatay, I’m done with school – I accomplished the goal we had dreamt together.” I knew, deep-down inside, that he knew I had accomplished the goal, though.
As much as I miss him, I knew God called him because he really accomplished his mission. We, his children, all know that he loved us so much, and still continues to love us. He gave us love, the gift of faith, and the fighting sprit and determination to excel in everything we do, and many other lessons, values, and gifts that we will all continue to carry on.
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