Andres B. Saldaña

My grandpa lived a long life. He lived 84 years on this earth. He experienced the joys of this life – marriage to his high school sweetheart; three children and from what he told me, he wanted even more than that; he witnessed the growth of his little family – 7 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren; he traveled and witnessed the natural wonders of this great nation and the nation of Mexico; he loved animals and he loved his little dogs. He also experienced the difficulties of this life – the death of his love, his youngest son, my dad, Andy Jr, and the death of his grandson, all gone too soon; having to leave his home of 30 years; and a house fire. He experienced the journey of highs and lows that we all call life.

I wonder as we go through our day to day lives if we realize or make it a goal to leave a lasting impression, impact, touch, memory on the people we come across with so often. How often do we think of it?? Is it a question that comes up only at the end of our lives?? I would think that as we live out our character, what is so natural to who we are, we aren’t thinking as much about how we will be remembered when we leave this earth. My grandpa impacted lives by being himself and nothing more. We all have our own experiences with Grandpa. We remember him so differently. Maybe because we needed him in so many different ways. He was/is a son, a brother, a husband, a father, a grandfather, a great-grandfather, an uncle, a cousin, a friend, and whoever else he needed to be for that person. He was even known as the emergency pancake man at a local restaurant he frequented in Utah. We know this now after his passing. We never know who notices us. He wanted to be remembered as someone who tried to help. He was also able to receive help and sometimes that’s hard for us to do or ask for. To me that is humility.

Grandpa had a connection with God. His faith helped him go through very difficult things. Things that could have caused him to remain bitter but he remained loving and gentle and most of all, he remained himself. He persevered through deepest loss and those of us who looked at him from afar were able to hold it together because he was like a steady anchor. We lean on that comfort. He may have stumbled but he did not stay down. As my uncle noted, he was ready for the next adventure with excitement and joy. What a gift to offer to us. His faith allowed him to be ready – to be with my grandma Gen, my dad Andy, my cousin Anthony and most importantly God himself. I think we can all agree that he was so ready and willing to share his life with others. His family and friends were drawn to him. He made a statement to my cousin one time that he could not hate because hate would be a sin. His faith compelled him to love and how thankful we are to have received it.

I know after this we will go back to our lives with something missing from our hearts. The hustle of life will take over for us youngsters as we try to live out our lives the best that we can. We carry so much of our grandpa inside of us. I would ask that as you move on from this day to think about those things and as I mentioned yesterday, share them with each other. Share the memories like grandpa did. For example, Grandpa told me about a friend, Art Navarro, who passed away from what he believed was eating too much cheese. And I don’t know Art but his memory lives on with me and now you as I shared it. We know he was a good friend to my grandpa and I am thankful to know that.

There is a saying “They tried to bury us, they didn’t know that we were seeds.” I don’t know who said it but it's beautiful. We may be laying my grandpa’s physical body here to rest today, burying it in the ground but as we share the memory of life here today and yesterday I would like to think that we are spreading the seed of his character and attributes and life. I would ask that you share them amongst yourselves as you converse with each other today especially the children here today because it will be a memory that they will one day share with their children.

I am so thankful for your presence here today. Your presence reminds me of memories that I have forgotten when we would gather as a family funeral or otherwise. God bless you.