A eulogy for Lolo Julian

“Don't be afraid of death; be afraid of an unlived life. You don't have to live forever, you just have to live.”

- Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbitt

Everything is fleeting.

My grandfather Lolo Julian passed away in his sleep yesterday morning. He had spent majority of the last two years being bedridden and needing full-time care as he couldn't anymore speak nor eat normally; he had to be fed through a tube.

He was 79.

We weren't really close as he was not particularly warm, even to his children. I remember resenting him as a child because he would not let me go out of the house to play with other kids, causing me to spend all my free time reading books and playing with my dolls. I have long ago forgiven him for that though, as I understood later on that he was not really a people person.

Still, I'd like to think he had a good life. He and my grandmother had four children, the eldest of which is my Mother. My life is a product of him and his circumstances, together with the life and circumstances of everyone before him. I am grateful and I will miss him.

Hug your loved ones a little bit tighter, friends.