Today is my dad’s first birthday abroad. I’m sharing his eulogy; something I cobbled together the night before his funeral on my phone. I could only deliver it after days of ceaseless tears sent me to a doctor for strong medication. It was a desperate grab at swirling memories. If you have stories about dad, they sure would be comforting today. My dad had many faces. You knew whether or not he liked you. But if he liked you, and you really wanted him to, it felt amazing. He wanted to help the truly downtrodden and obliterate emotional vampires. Some of you may have caught the business end of his wrath. He did not always make good choices like many of us. He wasn’t always honest, like many of us and it’s okay to grieve that aspect of him. It’s OK to be mad as hell and still love a person. Dad was weirdly charismatic; an “industrial-strength” weirdo. He sucked people into his orbit and they wanted to bask in his light. To be Russ’s friend meant you were going to laugh a lot; every day was a potential adventure. He knew a little something about everything. He could travel across the globe and run into someone he knew. He was not generally a meek person, but he loved tiny dogs with attitude problems. He was a great grandfather to my kids. He would latch onto the most mundane stories and details they shared and repeat them over and over ad nauseum. His practical joke game is the strongest I have ever seen. You could say something a year ago and he’d start hatching an elaborate plan to execute at the right moment, just when everyone else had forgotten. Dad loved to cook and you’ve never tasted a better steak. That was the last meal he prepared for me and it was exquisite. He was deeply apologetic that it wasn’t better but he knew it was perfect. He found his peace when he was fishing and he once told me that he wanted to die like his grandpa George, peacefully in a fishing boat, enjoying nature. But life is going to life. He had a twisted sense of humor. I think almost everyone here can verify that. There was once an article in the newspaper with a picture of a little boy who was playing baseball who jumped to catch the ball; he landed on a wrought https://www.instagram.com/p/B6VYwEBhQtj/?igshid=969ijwt802w3
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