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.
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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."
