Today I gave a short speech at my grandfather’s funeral. Words cannot express it all. Each word in here contains so much life, life lived together, in community, family, its hard to convey it all. There are life in these words and significance beyond understanding somehow. The experience I’ve had with my grandfather has both offered resolve and catharsis and simultaneously rendered me broken again, at a loss. I feel amid grief, yet at peace.

I came to Peru 4 months ago to get to know my family and culture. I am half Peruvian and I wanted to move to Peru for years. When I was a kid my family and I lost my mother, Dharcy. This is why, for the majority of my life, since the day that we lost my mom, I have not had the opportunity to get to know Peruvian culture well. My abuelito gave me the opportunity to come and live with him, in the house where my mother was raised. He told me many stories of my mother, of our family, of the jungle, of the ocean, of Huancayo and the mountains. It was exactly what I needed. We had good times together. We ate a lot of ‘menus’ in Surquillo and Miraflores. We were well known in those places as the little abuelito and his grandson from the United States.

Yo vine al Peru hace 4 meses para conocer mi familia y cultura. Soy la mitad Peruano y queria mudarme al Peru hace anos. Cuando era nino mi familia y yo perdimos mi mama, Dharcy. Por eso, la mayoria de mi vida - desde el dia que perdimos mi mama, no tenia la oportunidad de conocer la cultura Peruana bien. Mi abuelo me dio la oportunidad de venir y vivir con el, en la casa donde se habia criado mi mama. Él me contó bastantes historias de mi mama, de la famila, de la selva, del mar, de Huancayo y las montanas. Fue exactamente lo que necesitaba. Pasamos buenas horas juntos. Comimos bastantes menus en Surquillo y Miraflores muchas veces. Fuimos bien conocidos en estos lugares como el pequeno abuelito y su nieto de los estados unidos.

Our lives were very different. But we had each other. The times I came home to a dark house without my grandfather I didn’t feel normal. It made me happy when I arrived to a house where my grandfather was listening to the radio with the music turned up, sitting in the kitchen drinking tea. ‘Who is it?’, he would say to me (every time). One time, I said to him, ‘I’m a thief, give me all your money!’ and we laughed a lot. I love music, so I loved when my abuelito listened to music in the house everyday. He was a person of the night. He loved to dance, and he always listened to music during most of the night. Sometimes, I would have a class in the morning and have to say - Abuelito turn down the music please, its the middle of the night. He was like a young person, awake all night, taking naps all day. He would pass the days reading his favorite newspaper and taking naps, always with music or the news, always RPP Noticias.

Tuvimos vidas bien distintos. Pero, de todas maneras, tuvimos el uno al otro. Las veces que llegaba a la casa oscura, sin mi abuelito, no me sentia normal. Me dio alegria cuando llegaba a la casa donde estaba mi abuelito escuchando el radio con musica fuerte, sentandose en la cocina tomando te. ‘Quien es?’, me decia. Una vez, le dije, ‘soy un ladron dame todo tu dinero!’ y nos reimos bastante. Yo me encanta la musica, entonces me gustaba cuando mi abuelito escuchaba la musica fuerte en la casa todo los dias. El era una persona de la noche. Le gustaba bailar, y siempre escuchaba la musica durante la mayoria de la noche. A veces, tenia una clase en la manana y tenia que decirle — por favor Abuelito baja el volume de la musica, es la madrugada. El era como un joven despierto toda la noche, tomando siestas todo el dia. Los dias, el pasaba leyendo su favorito diaro y tomando siestas, siempre con la musica o las noticias, siempre RPP noticias.

My abuelito was a person always ready for an adventure, a trip, a night dancing in the park with the ladies. He had a charm. He was always ready to show me some dance moves, the right way to swim, to eat and dress. He loved the beach and the waves. And he also loved naturalism. He always taught me the foods that help the body. So, the secret is to eat only garlic, tomatoes and apples. This is how you will live a long and active life like my abuelito.

Mi abuelito era una persona siempre lista para una aventura, un viaje, una noche bailando en el parque con las chicas. Tenia un encanto. Siempre listo para ensenarme algunas movimientos de baila, la forma nadar corectamente, de comer y vestirme. Le encantaba la playa y las olas. Tambien le entacantaba el naturismo. Siempre me ensenaba las comidas que ayudan el cuerpo. Entonces, el secreto es comer puro de ajo, tomate y manzanas. Asi van a vivir una vida larga y activa como mi Abuelito.

You can see that we lost a great man. We lost a great grandfather. I lost a great friend. It was a privilege to know my abuelito. It was a privilege to live with him. It was an honor to hold my hand over his heart as he left us. The man who taught me what it means to be peruvian is gone. The man that raised my aunts and my mom has gone to heaven. I only hope that my mother and him are together again with God and the angels. As my mom would say to me when I was a kid, ‘sueña con los angelitos’ my dear grandfather. We love you always.

Pueden ver que perdimos un gran hombre. Perdimos un gran Abuelito. Perdi un gran amigo. Fue un privilegio conocer mi Abuelito. Fue un privilegio vivir con el. Fue un honor para sostener mi mano sobre su corazon mientras el nos dejo. El hombre que me ensenaba que significa ser peruano se ha ido. El hombre que crió mis tias y mi mama ha ido al cielo. Solo espero que mi mama y el esten unidos de nuevo con Dios y los angeles. Como mi mama me decia cuando era nino - suena con los angelitos, mi querido abuelito. Te amamos siempre.

E. Abelardo Verastegui Verastegui passed away at 12:50AM May 25 2013 at the age of 86.