Jacqueline's Eulogy

         Jacqueline McIntyre Meyer touched the lives of many people during her time on this earth, and she went by many different names, but one of her most treasured names was the one I deemed her at a very young age, “my Nana”. Yes she was my Nana and I was her PJ, short for what I was, a little bit of Pam and Jack mixed together. Some of you may not know this but my nana was a huge part of my life. She lived with me from the time I was two until I was seventeen years old. I have many fond memories of her during that time. I can still see her pulling me down the beach in a laundry basket telling me “wave to Baba, PJ” and I would look up at the deck of our beach house and see my grandfather smiling down on us, much like I know both of them are doing today.



         I remember getting off the school bus when I was 5 and running down the dirt road that led to our big brown house on the beach and there my nana would be waiting for me with open arms. She’d bring me upstairs to the smell of baking cookies and I knew there would be a bowl and spoon waiting there for me to lick, my way of helping Baba bake. Baba and I would have coloring contests with Nana as the judge and he just could never understand how a five year old beat him every time, and Nana would just shake her head and say, “look at this bill,” holding up my drawing, “how could you ever expect to color a more beautiful picture than that?” And I would just smile because my Nana knew how to make you feel like you were the best and most loved child in the world. And I watched her make many others feel like that throughout the years.



         I have so many special times I can remember with her, Christmases, birthdays, summer vacations, and all the little things in between. I learned so much from her and she taught me how it feels to be truly loved. She was like a second mother to me, we had our fights like most daughters and mothers do, mainly in my early teen years when we spent most of our time with just the two of us, as my mother had to work and commute an hour away. I took care of my Nana and she took care of me. She told me when I was being a selfish little brat and I told her when she was being a crazy old lady, but mainly we just had fun together. She welcomed all my friends for sleepovers that sometimes lasted for days and all of them adored her.



         My mother and Nana adopted some of my friends like they were their own and Nana called this group “Her Girls,” myself, Nahal, Crystal, Jessica, Katie, and later on Katrina and she loved us all. She was filled with joy when “her girls” were around. We sat and listened to her stories, joked and laughed, and asked questions all young girls want to know. She wasn’t just MY Nana anymore, she was OUR Nana and she will forever live on in our hearts.



         There are too many memories, too many lessons learned to list them all would take a lifetime. And to try and sum up the essence of my grandmother would be extremely hard. All I can say is how happy I am to have experienced a love like my Nana and I had. She wanted the world for me, she would always tell me to do my best, do what makes me happy, she forever believed in me and I could do no wrong in her eyes. Before she got sick I never really got a chance to tell her how much she meant to me, how much I appreciated everything she did for me over my nineteen years, and how much I would miss her once she was gone. But on her last day here I crawled up in her bed and said it all, all I had wanted to say but never did. The last thing she said to me was “I love you baby” and as tears rolled down my face I said and Ill say again, “I love you too Nana, I will always love you.”