THE LAST WORD ON GRANNY...3RD FEBRUARY 2014

It`s been a tough 2 weeks .This week started with a funeral.
Paul Mersey and Luke Haustorfer spoke at their Granny`s funeral on behalf of their brothers , sisters , nieces , nephews and cousins.

"When Paul and I (Luke and I) sat down to discuss what to say today, we reflected on many of Granny’s great qualities as both a person and our grandmother, and told numerous stories of happy moments that us grandchildren shared with her. We also discussed Granny’s endearing personality and warmth that she shared with all that she met, and her enormous generosity. So, with much difficulty, we were able to sift through all of the beautiful memories we have of the amazing woman who was our Granny, and decided to share these few with you today.

 

Whilst Granny had nine grandchildren, she wasn’t just Granny to us, she was also Granny to many our friends as well. Growing up we all at various times stayed with Granny and Pa and we would often have friends either stay with us or visit. Granny and Pa would always welcome our friends into their home and treat them as if they were part of the family. Granny still holds a special place in these friends’ hearts, which has been demonstrated over the last week by the way that they have all sent us messages of support not for our Grandmother, but for Granny.

 

It was not only our friends that Granny endeared herself to, rather she endeared herself to everyone she met and became friends with people wherever she went. There was no such thing as a quick trip to the shops or a quiet cuppa with Granny, as wherever Granny went she was sure to bump into someone she knew who wanted a chat. This endearing nature stayed with Granny until her very last days, with nurses and doctors whom she met during her time in hospital going out of their way to check on her wellbeing.

 

Granny and Pa travelled often and far – for as many places as they’ve been, anyone would be left to believe the only holiday they ever went on was when they took five of us grandsons to QLD... Limousine rides, theme parks, Luke’s infamous bus ride, and everything else in between. It’s not just the holiday that brings back happy memories but the thought of how much happiness it brought to Granny whilst recalling stories from the trip.

 

Granny was also a very generous woman who genuinely got pleasure from giving to others. Granny was very generous with both her time and money, and there was never a birthday, Christmas or special occasion go by without Granny buying a gift to celebrate. Granny’s giving also extended beyond the gifts she bought, and at times it was very hard to pay her a compliment on something she had in her home without her trying to give it to you. In time I came to realise that it was often much easier to stay quiet than to pay a compliment and having to go through the ensuing debate as to why the item looks better in her home than yours.

 

Never once did Granny get angry at any of us grandchildren – her way of dealing with us when we did play up, was to threaten us that she would run away with a soldier. Effective as it was we knew Granny would never actually leave us and that she had in fact already had her soldier in pa.

 

Finally, it would not be to truly honour Granny without telling a story that reflected Granny’s ditzy side. At one stage or another we have all been afflicted by Granny’s ditzyness, and for Ben and I the icing on the cake would be Granny losing the ca in Bairnsdale. After a few relaxing days at Lakes Entrance we were heading home when Granny decided she would like to stop and have a look around Bairnsdale. After a leisurely stroll around town, we returned to where the car was supposed to be, only to find it purportedly stolen. For the next few hours we were dragged around town in search of the car, before finally heading to the local Police Station to report it stolen. It was with much relief when a local police officer informed Granny that her car wasn’t in fact stolen, it was safe and sound a few streets away and she had simply forgotten where she had parked it.

 

It is these special qualities that made our Granny such an amazing woman who was adored by not only her family but everyone she met. So of behalf of your nine adoring grandchildren, we would like to thank you Granny for being the best granny ever. Love always and forever, Marc, Shaun, Paul, Rachel, Lindsey, Ben, Luke, Reuben and Jordan."