Eulogy for My Grandmother

My Grandmother passed away Oct 1, 2009. The following is the eulogy I wrote for her funeral. I was too emotional to read it, but my uncle Dewight read it for me.



Mama Gina, as we called her, was more than just a grandmother. She was our cheerleader, urging us on in our chosen endeavor of the moment. No matter how foolish they might seem to others, she knew they were important to us, so she would support us anyway she knew how.

She encouraged creativity. Often times she was our only audience, whether it be reading a story or poem we wrote, listening to us run lines of a play, admiring a drawing, or watching a talent show, performed on her front deck. She always applauded our efforts.

She was our mentor. Always challenging our beliefs, by urging us to check things out before we formed an opinion.

She was our confidant, tirelessly listening to us work throught the tough decisions and issues in our lives, as well as the petty day to day things that got us down. I could call her in the middle of the night and she would listen until I finally either talked myself a solution, or became sleepy.

She was our partner in crime, always up for pizza or ice cream. She would buy us that much desired object that we were afraid to ask our parents for. In my case, it was a coveted bottle of black nail polish.

She took me to my first horror film. I don't remember how old I was, but I was very young, not yet in my teens. She shared my love of horror movies. We spent many Saturday nights watching Elvira's Movie Macabre. Sometimes these movies were scary, but often the were campy and we could laugh at how bad they were.

She had a great sense of humor and that rare ability to laugh at herself. My most vivid memory of this is an instant when Leigh, Kimberly, and I were swimming. Kimberly was little and Mama Gina was standing at the side of the pool, holding on to the rail at the steps, trying to help Kimberly out. Her hand slid down the rail and she went in head first, fully dressed. We kids howled with laughter as she came up sputtering. Kimberly asked her to "Do it again!" Now this prediciment might anger most people, but after she had cleared the water from her nose and eyes she quipped "Well it's Saturday and I guess I've had my bath now!" This was typical of her humor.

She enjoyed life, but most of all she enjoyed her children, grandchildren, great grands, and great great grand. She was the type of rare individual who could bridge age gaps. She was ageless. She became all of our friend's "Mama Gina". And as one friend of mine put it as she relayed her sympathy "Mama Gina was the coolest!" She was the greatest grandmother and the coolest a kid could have had. I think I speak for all of us when I say we will miss her greatly.

Rest in Peace
Regina I Clements
1922-2009

Much love, your granddaughter, Dinah