I'm half of the team that Emma sometimes referred to as G.G. and G.G.
That stands for Grandma Ginny and Grandpa Gene.
For years I've been told it was dangerous to say good things about one
grandchild. The danger is that other grandchildren -- or more usually
their parents -- can believe you have a favorite. Yet each one has
traits and characteristics that stand out from the others, and can be
talked about.
Emma had at least two such traits.
First, she was a pixie. Not a heavy-handed clown, but a delightful
pixie. With a sparkle in her eye, a sparkle in her feet, a sparkle
in her mind.
Second, she liked to write. She not only wrote thank-you letters
promptly -- a feat noteworthy in itself -- but she wrote us other letters
and notes when she had something to say. Also, she seldom visited us
without leaving some note on the erasable message board affixed with
magnets to the refrigerator door.
In thinking about Emma it's easy to say, "such a waste." And, of
course, it is.
But it is not a total waste. There is a lot of good in the world because
she was here.
She provided a lot of pleasure for a lot of people, however you define
pleasure, while she was alive. I happen to include learning as pleasure.
I recall one episode this past year when she and I approached each
other in her kitchen. I reached my arms out to give and get a hug.
When we were finished, she said, "Thank you." That was a new
experience for me. A learning experience. The kind of learning one
might get from poetry.
She gave us future pleasure in memories. Every one in this room can call
up a favorable memory of Emma at any time.
Most important, she will have an influence on the future. Let me give
three examples.
Emma had a well-developed sense of family. She regularly and frequently
talked about and asked about the others of her generation; she referred
to them as The Cousins. Her reaching out has had some success. Three
of The Cousins are at this service today, having traveled 500 miles
one way to get here, alternating between driving and doing homework.
You heard earlier that Emma was interested in food and recipes. She has
forwarded some of the those recipes to her grandmother, and that
should provide some good in the future. Well, "good" may not be
the right word for me to use as many of the recipes are for cakes
and thinks like that; perhaps influence is a better word.
In my case, she was walking past the room we call my office at home
not too long ago when she heard the unmistakable growl and whine as
a modem was connecting itself to the outside world. She smiled and
gave me the "thumbs-up" sign and went on down to breakfast. She
followed that up a day or two later with a note that gave me more
encouragement and listed her several e-mail numbers. I did get my
own e-mail number and even check it from time to time, thanks to
her.
For all these and other benefits to the world -- the pleasure, the memories, the influence on the future -- I say, "Thanks, Emma" [giving the thumbs-up sign].