Condolences
One of my first memories, when I was about 4 or 5 was when both my grandparents were watching over me. It was around lunchtime and my grandpa had given me milk in a bottle and even though it was 20 years ago, I still remember looking at him like he was nuts and said that I don’t drink milk in bottles because I’m a big kid. Grandma saw and looked at me and said ‘ah you’re a big kid’ and plucked the bottle out of my hands, gave me a look that said ‘i’m trusting you with this’ and transferred it into a glass. I was so proud because I drank the entire thing without making a mess and then not even an hour later I dropped a bunch of eggs on the floor. Grandma helped me clean them up.
As I got older her words of wisdom and her trust went beyond things like ‘you’re a big kid’. She trusted us to walk to the asian bakery to get pineapple buns when we were 8, and I can’t imagine what that must have been like for her because with every year we would get further and further away from her. She would also say the same things every time she saw us and my Tagalog is terrible so I’ll just sum them up: “you need to eat to take care of your body and mind,” “school is so important so you can get a good job”. Now this was standard Grandma advice she would say to all of us, she never wavered from it, no matter how many times we wanted her to talk about anything else, jeopardy or food or any one of the other many grandkids. But this last thing, I like to think, was especially for me. She would say, “I pray you come back to me.”
I think we all wanted to be grandma’s favourite. She could name all of her grandchildren from oldest to youngest and with as many of us as there are, there was quite the competition. For us, her usual answers were Lionel or Warren or Dylan, but one time she said it was me. I was her favourite. She continued to say that it was because she thought I needed it the most. My first thought was: wow rude grandma, give me a break. But my second thought was how? How did she know? I like to think that she saw that I was struggling and that I needed to be reminded of how loved I am, because grandma could see things in us that we didn’t and without trying she would remind you of the person you are when you forgot.
When she said ‘I love you’ it didn’t always sound like ‘I love you.’ It came out as you’re my favourite or where’s your jacket, even though its the middle of a heat wave and 37 degrees out. It came out as have you eaten yet today and here I fixed the holes in your jeans (even though I had bought them with holes). It sounded like here take this (her last 20 dollars) and get yourself Dairy Queen and it was the sound she made whenever she gave you a kiss, like she was breathing in your last breath.
I can’t do anything to top what she had to say because clearly her words of wisdom were preparing us for a time when she wouldn’t be around. She helped raise us and for that I will forever be grateful. She taught us to not hold on to anger, to love each other with everything we have, to take care of family because that truly is the most important thing. But Grandma, I don’t think there would have ever been enough time to learn from you, to feel your love and to hear you laugh at us being absolutely ridiculous and so I pray I will come back to you too, I love you.
Writing this speech has been by far one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do as I feel that trying to find the words to describe the kind of person my grandma was and how much she meant to me here is impossible. It is a great testament to her nature that so many of you are here today.
I heard this quote that reads “from our grandparents. we learn where we come from, we learn our history, we learn who we are.” Unfortunately, I never got to meet my grandma on my dad’s side, grandma Julia, so everything I know about being a good Filipino grandma, I have learned from you. I learned that if you really want to save money, you need to hide every single bill in a different place. I learned that if you don’t want to lose something, you need to safety pin it to your underwear.
Grandma was an incredible matriarch. I did not fully understand how incredible until I saw her in the Philippines. She truly is the foundation of our entire family. She took such great care of everyone. Every child, grandchild, and great grandchild. She did so effortlessly, regardless if they lived across the city or across the world.
I’ll say that grandma lived a simple life. As many of you know, it didn’t take much to make her happy. A Hawaiian pizza, some banana chips, Alex Trebek. She was stubborn and sassy, two traits that were definitely passed on to all of her children and grandchildren. She was always excited to see you, regardless if you visited earlier that week or even earlier that day. Finally, she had the best smile, teeth or no teeth, it didn’t matter. Grandma had the best smile and the most infectious laugh.
I feel lucky to have known my grandma for as long as I did. I feel so lucky to have been able to learn from her and be loved by her for as long as I did.
Grandma, you’ve played a huge part in shaping who I am today. You have played a huge part in shaping a lot of people in this room. I will draw strength from the things you taught me. One day, I aim to be as supportive, as understanding, and as loving to others as you were to me.
Thank you for everything G. Ingat ka grandma. We love you.
Hey everyone,
Thank you all for coming. My name is Lionel Migrino, and I am grandma Cely's most handsome and favourite grandson. Kidding aside, I want to take this moment to tell everyone how I remember her. She played a huge role in both me and my sister’s lives. Since my mom is a single parent, my grandma lived with us to help my mom raise us and I want to share the impact grandma had on my life.
While growing up, grandma always had a routine, waking up around 6 am so that she could wake Lauren and I up to get ready for school. She also made sure that we have food before school and had food waiting for us after school. I loved it when she cooked bacon for us after school because she cooked it just right, not too soft and not too burnt, just the perfect crispiness For anyone that knows her, she encouraged everyone to eat if anyone visited the house. She believed that food brings people together and can make you stronger! She always constantly nagged me to eat and said that due to my disability, I needed to eat more to get better.
It always frustrated me when grandma said this because I knew that eating lots of food wouldn’t make my disability disappear. Looking back, I think I knew why she wanted me to eat more. Not because it would ''heal me,'' but because eating lots will give me the energy to work and study harder than anyone else. My grandma was one of the few people that always believed in me. She saw potential in me, and I had a tough time recognizing it until now.
During Thanksgiving, One of Grandma's final words to me was she wants us to take care and that she loves us all. I will hold on to those words for the rest of my life. Her greatest pride and joys in life were her kids and grandchildren. Grandma was proud of us all and all the things everyone accomplished.
As a kid, I know I was a handful and we had a tough time understanding one another, but she played a big part in who I am today. Grandma would always help me get dressed for school and would often joke that she would still be dressing me up when she reached 95 years old! Moments like this solidified that she would always be there for me, and I didn't want to imagine a life without her.
I am sad that grandma will no longer be with me on my journey from now on, but I know she will always be living within each of us. Grandma, I want to say thank you for believing in me and making me realize that I have a purpose in life. We miss you Grandma and will love you always. Ingat!
Hello everybody, I’m Raquel and I want to thank you all for coming to celebrate our Nanay, Celestina Espina.
When I’m growing up, Nanay said we always had to clean. Everyday. As soon as we woke up, after eating our meals, and before we went to sleep - everything had to be clean. All the time, that was the routine. And even in our clothes, we are known by our friends and neighbours with how clean our clothes were. Especially when we were wearing white because Nanay knew how to make them really really white - even if they were old clothes already. And, she always imposed on us - honesty. We always have to tell the truth and if we don’t it’s shameful. She would tell us that growing up, her dad would say to her, “Honour is precious.” So myself and us siblings, we would always practice that in our daily life and work.
Education was also very important to Nanay. She didn’t have a lot of money for us to inherit, but the knowledge, the education - nobody can steal that from us. She always instilled that in us.
Nanay always helped everyone too. I know that I wasn’t her favourite, but it’s okay because she knows me. Nanay knows me and she helped me a lot. I didn’t have to tell her I need this, I need that - no. She knew when I needed help because she knows that growing up I didn’t want to ask for help or money. I had too much pride to ask her for anything, but she would always know when I needed something and would always support me. Nanay would also make sure that us siblings were there for each other through everything and on whatever occasion. Even to strangers, Nanay always wanted to help and be generous. She would give away the items in our corner store for free or offer the food in our family’s cafeteria to any customer who was hungry and couldn’t afford to pay.
My fondest memory of Nanay is how happy she was when playing with all of our kids. She would play cards with them and use candy or pennies to gamble with. Growing up, I never remember a time we weren’t happy during the holidays. Because we are a very big family - I would have never thought that our oldest siblings were our half-brothers and sisters with the way Nanay treated them. She treated all of them as though they were her own.
Nanay was also known as Nanay ng Bayan in our neighbourhood back home and sometimes it made us jealous because she was our Nanay. Everyone called her Nanay too, but we would often say, no that’s my Nanay!
What I will miss the most are Nanay’s calls and visiting her. Even if it was only for a short time, we always talked to each other and she would tell stories involving everyone in the family. She would often repeat the same stories over and over, and every time I would pay attention to her, reassure her I was listening and smile.
Nanay, you know that I always love you and I miss you. And thank you very much for all the help you gave to me, my children, and our whole family. Alam mong hindi ka namin makakalimutan. We always tell the kids, don’t be sad, Grandma will always be in your heart. Maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat.
Good evening everyone. I’m Lauren Migrino, one of the youngest grandchildren of Grandma Cely. Thank you all so much for coming today to celebrate her life. Grandma lived a long and fulfilling 94 years and over the next few minutes, I’ll be sharing how much she meant to all of us.
Since we were kids, Grandma loved to share tidbits of her upbringing and her life back home, to all of us grandchildren. Whether we were at a family gathering, watching TV together in the living room, or sitting at the dinner table - Grandma would share some of her most vivid memories of living in the Philippines. She often spoke about her love of walking around her neighbourhood, as well as the many sacrifices she made to take care of all her children. In hearing her stories, I grew to learn her unwavering strength, wisdom and selflessness.
Grandma was steadfast in her love for her family. Always wanting the best for each one of us, and never once asking for anything in return. It was always remarkable to me how a woman who had given so much to so many throughout her life, continued to do so well into her 80s. Her generosity showed no bounds. There were numerous times growing up where Grandma would sit at the foot of my bed in the morning and gently wake me up to give me money to buy breakfast for everyone in the house and for whoever was planning to visit that day. She always wanted to provide for her family in whatever capacity she could, and prioritized our security and well-being above all else. Through her example, I learned the value of family and what it meant to have unconditional love for another person.
My most cherished memories of Grandma were the little things. I’ll always remember how she loved to sing while hand-washing her clothes in the kitchen sink and how much she enjoyed pushing the cart in the grocery store while walking down every aisle. She was also very particular about her “spot” on the couch and would gently shoe us away to make room for her if we were sitting in it. But what I’ll miss most is how she would always wait by the door and wave goodbye to us after every time we visited her. Grandma was headstrong and no matter how many times we’d reassure her we were okay and to close the door because it was getting cold, she persisted to wait anyway. She took every opportunity to watch over us and in her final moments, we made sure to do the same for her.
We continue to miss you with each passing day, Grandma and although the pain of losing you will ease over time, our love for you will never change. I know myself, your children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren would not be who they are today without your comforting and constant presence in our lives. Thank you for everything Grandma. We love you so much.
Being the youngest in our family, I had the shortest encounters with our Lola Cely. Growing up, Papa, Luvimin her eldest son, would often share stories about their life and their family’s love for food. I can recall how vibrantly Papa boasts about Lola Cely’s kakanin (rice cake) recipes and their go-to merienda (snack) turon (deep fried banana rolls). Over the years, I always wondered who raised Papa, and how did he became a man of honor, a humble leader with a sense of accountability, and a father who values the spirit of family and fun.
Come the year 2000, I personally met Lola Cely. She had a charming aura, and you can immediately feel the warmth of her love from her tight hugs and long kisses. Surprisingly, she enjoys wearing Filipino daster (dress), and she is quite competitive when playing Pinoy card games like Pares-Pares and Unggoy-Unggoyan. And while Lola Cely is fond of teleseryes (Philippine television dramas), she prefers to watch action movies where she energetically mimics the punching scenes of the action stars. From then on, I realized that our Papa mostly got his traits from our Lola Cely.
In another short encounter with Lola Cely, this time in 2017, I got the chance to host her 90th birthday party. It was a blast and I am glad to have witnessed this memorable moment. On the night before her celebration, we slept together in a room. And in the middle of the night, I felt Lola Cely pull the blanket to cover me while she whispered gently, “Apo, napagod ka ata sa trabaho mo, matulog ka nang mahimbing. Andito lang si Lola.” I kept quiet and pretended to sleep, but, as Lola went back to her bed, I slowly peeked at her and I felt secured and safe. Through these short notable encounters with Lola Cely, I was able to experience her love language.
Lola Cely was the safe haven for us, grandchildren and great grandchildren. While Lola Cely served as the guiding light to her children, and the bond that bridged the various generations in our family.
With this, we thank the Lord, Father God, for the life of our Lola Cely. Lola Cely, thank you for choosing to become a wife and a mother to our Papa Luvimin, and his siblings. Without you, we would not be here, and we will not be raised to become positive and responsible adults. You may be gone physically, but your love and your memories will remain in our hearts forever. We will miss you, Lola Cely. We love you.
Copyright © Funeraltech 2019