Memorial speech for Naden Thompson

My grandfather passed away last Wednesday, May 20, 2009, however due to the Memorial day holiday we were not able to bury him until Tuesday, May 26, 2009. He requested that no minister give a sermon at his services, instead we all were to honor him through spoken words. Here is my speech about my grandfather.

 

Naden Thompson

Beloved father, grandfather and friend

Albert Einstein once said, “Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generation. For they are us, our bodies are only wilted leaves on the tree of life”.

Naden Thompson, known to many of you as Blackie, is my grandfather and his death is not an end. He lives on in his son, his grandchildren and his great-grandchildren.
My grandfather was a man of practical wisdom. He didn’t ask for much in the way of material things and led a quiet simple life. Grandpa Blackie had an unselfish temperament that was proven time and time again by his generosity. Although, he was not one to attend church, kindness was his religion and it was one that he stayed faithful too. I see these same things in his son, my father, so I know that his death is not an end.

I didn’t have the pleasure of sharing my childhood with my Grandpa Blackie. I didn’t sit on his knee nor did he have the chance to take me to the park, but I know that he loved me. I know this not because of the smile he had when I came around, or the way he hugged me when I was leaving. I know this not because he was always eager to help me in any way he could. I know this because of a coin. You see the other day while cleaning up his trailer I found two coins that he had put away together. They were both 50 cent pieces … one was made in 1990 and the other in 1972, the years that my oldest daughter and I were born. I know that he thought about me and held me in his heart just as he resides in a special place in mine and always will. Therefore his death is not an end.

My children adored Grandpa Blackie and in return were spoiled by him. They were not fooled by his gruff sounding voice or his firm demeanor and they could care less if he was a man of few words. All they knew was that Grandpa Blackie didn’t have to say the words “I love you” to have it be true. His rides around the yard on his lawnmower said it all. Grandpa Blackie loved my children and they love him. Children you see are the best judges of character. They may not be able to put names on words like compassion and adoration, but they knew that those traits were found in him and that Grandpa Blackie was a loving man. I see his memory lingering in the eyes of my children and I know that his death is not an end.

No … Naden Thompson’s death is not an end because he lives on in his children and the younger generation, for we are him and his body is merely a wilted leaf on the tree on life.