For those of you who will read this post from start to finish, you knew Gia. You knew all about her spirit, her energy, her love for family, her love for life and her love for friends. But Gia really didn’t have friends. You see, Gia always thought of her friends as family and she thought of all my friends and my brother’s friends as her own grandchildren. It’s just who she was.

I was asked to deliver a eulogy at Gia’s services on Friday. It was the second time in my life I had to put into words what a loved one meant to me. Even with experience, it’s never an easy task, especially when the time comes to deliver those words to the mourners.

How do you properly honor a woman who lived life to the fullest and never gave up? How do you get the message across to everyone who knew her that Gia was ready and accepting of what was to come? It’s hard. But when you realize Gia is no longer struggling with her sickness and is reunited with her husband (Pop Pop), son (Uncle Domenico), and our beloved Sandy; it makes fighting the grief a little bit easier.

To me, the hard part has yet to come.

I said goodbye to Gia long before she passed away. I reminisced with her about all the great times we had as grandmother and grandson. I thanked her for the amazing childhood she gave me and how she was doing the same for my boys, her great-grandsons.

Now we have to find a way to move forward. How do we do that? How do we move forward without Gia when Tony and Enzo are asking for her each day?

It can be a blessing to have children in your lives during the loss of a loved one. It can also be difficult because you don’t want to see them hurt.

Enzo has asked us when Gia will come back from heaven. He has asked us how she got there. Tony has told us that with Gia in heaven he feels lonely. They are innocent children who can’t see the pain of disease or sickness. They only see the love, beauty, and life in front of them.

The days, weeks, and months ahead will be hard. To me, they will be the hardest. I will want to call Gia. I will want to sit with Gia. I will want to have a meal with Gia. I can’t. But I know that she is going to be with me and the rest of the family as our guardian angel.

We told the boys that Gia will get to see all they do in life. She will get to see them grow up. She will get to see them play and have fun. We also told them that she will now watch over them and keep them safe as their angel.

Gia had almost no regrets in life. She lived life to the fullest and she did it her way. Gia didn’t answer to anyone but herself and at the end of the day, she was happy with the life she lived.

There’s so much more I could write about Gia, her love for family, and her love for life but she wouldn’t want it that way. Gia didn’t like a lot of fuss over her. That’s not who she was. She wanted to focus on everyone else in her life.

With that, I put the ball in her court. Now she can focus on all of us from her seat in heaven alongside Pop Pop, Uncle Domenico, and Sandy.

Until we meet again, Gia.

All our love,

Jim, Nicole, Tony & Enzo.