Speech for Grandad's funeral

This is the speech that I wrote and read out at Grandad's funeral. RIP Grandad. :'(

After Grandad passed away, I asked if I could speak at the funeral and I feel honoured to be able to speak here today. I could stand up here and talk about Grandad for hours, partially because he was such an amazing man and I have so many fantastic memories of him but mostly because I really am my grandfather's granddaughter!

When you're a child, your parents are all-knowing but it's your grandparents who are your real heroes, not only do they know everything but they spoil you rotten as well. As children, Jared and I had the pleasure of spending a lot of time with Grandad, we lived with Nanna and Grandad for a period of time and we occasionally travelled on holidays with them. Jared went on several visits to Kalgoorlie with Grandad where he got to visit where Grandad was born and raised, including the site of the blacksmith shop where Grandad's father carried on a blacksmith business when Grandad was a boy during the 1920s. During these visits, Jared has told me, he got to know to Grandad very well and considers it an honour that he had this time to learn about his grandfather's history.

In 1994, Mum and Dad took us on a trip to the UK with Grandad. Jared and I had thought we'd heard all of Grandad's ditties until that trip...I guess it took driving 4,000 miles around Britain to finally hear Grandad's entire repertoire, even now we're not sure we actually ever heard them all. During that trip, we would enter these fantastic, historic buildings. Jared and I would take one trip around and then start in with the "I'm bored!" but Grandad and Dad wanted to look at every single stained glass window and read every single plaque.

In more recent times, since our Poppa, my Mum's father passed away Jared really tried to spend more time with Grandad. He told me that four big things stuck out in his memory, Grandad coming to the one football grand final that he played in, Grandad coming to watch Marshall play soccer, Mikaela's first birthday just last year and the Christmases that we spent with him.

It's rare to come across a man like Grandad, I can honestly say that I have never once heard a bad word said about him. Perhaps I haven't lost all of my childish innocence because to this day he's still my hero. I've always said that "I'll be a mess when Grandad dies.". I could say it so casually because I never truly believed that it would happen. Even after he was admitted to hospital and I visited him on the Friday night, I was still so sure he was going to be okay and absolutely certain that he was still going to make it to 100 years old and get his letter from the Queen. When I got to the hospital on the Saturday before he passed, my childish self still couldn't fathom what was going to happen. I had to be told by my family, two nurses and the Registrar before it even began to sink in that my hero, the man that had been there for me my entire life was no longer going to be a physical part of it. Even now, a part of me can't actually believe that I'm here and doing this.

I have one final story to tell. In order to tell it, though, you need to know that I was seven years old when Grandad's wife, my Nanna, died. I don't remember a lot about that day. I remember going to see Nanna who was laid out in the master bedroom at The Farm. I remember copying Mum and leaning forward to give her a kiss on the forehead, terrified the whole time that she would open her eyes. I remember crying at her graveside because all the adults were crying and that made me sad. What I didn't remember was something that Grandad told me a few years ago, he said that he remembered me coming over to him when we were at the cemetary and giving him a hug and he said that it was part of what gave him the strength to get through the day.

As we left the hospital near midnight on the Sunday that Grandad passed away, I was physically and emotionally wrecked from spending the day at Grandad's bedside. My six year old nephew, Marshall, walked over to me, put his arm around my waist and said "It's okay Aunty Siâny. You've got me. I'll always be here." and I understood why that memory from Nanna's funeral had stuck in his mind all these years.

Grandad, we know that you're in Heaven and we know that this only goodbye for now but that doesn't make this hurt any less. I miss you so much already and it's been less than two weeks since you spoke to me last. You will still be a part of our lives. With every birth of every child and with every marriage and with every birthday you will be in our hearts. You're having an amazing time in Heaven and as broken-hearted as the family and friends that you have left behind are, you have well and truly earnt your reward. We love you and always will. :'(