Eulogy for a Warrior

Originally Published February 10, 2012

This isn’t a funeral. We’re here to celebrate. Celebrating the life of Abundio. He touched the lives of all of us here today. How many of us were welcomed into his home with open arms at any hour of the day. Take a load off, are you hungry? Do you want to shower? Go lie down on the bed and sleep for a bit. He was happiest when he played host. He would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. Seeing others content was enough for him. How many times would he come visit our homes and if the sun was shining, hey let’s make some carne asada? Play some cards? He didn’t just enjoy life; he loved living it and celebrating it with those around him.

He loved his family. His brothers and sisters meant so much to him. He always wanted to see them or especially have them visit him. Being their big brother meant he did everything he could to help them out when they were in a rough spot. The first time he and Angie got a credit card from Montgomery Wards, they went on a shopping spree and bought Christmas presents for everyone. I mean everyone, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews. And we’re Mexican so you know that’s a lot of people. Even if a lot of them were simple, little gifts, even if some of the kids weren’t terribly excited about what they got, he still wanted to be able to provide for everybody. His greatest dream was to someday win the lottery so he could buy up a block of houses and have everyone move in next door to one another.

And speaking of lottery, does anyone remember how much time he spent trying to figure out how to win? There were literally dozens of notepads lying around the house just filled with series of numbers. One after the other, line after line and he just “KNEW” that his method was going to make him rich. All it was going to take was for him to buy about six thousand dollars in tickets.

But he didn’t really need the money, he was already prosperous. He was rich with the love of his family and friends. Abundio was respected and loved. We all looked up to him as being a rock. The warrior.

Our warrior fought bravely and it wasn’t just these last few months but he battled for years. When he first started to get sick and underwent major surgery nearly 20 years ago. When doctors feared cancer and removed his large intestine, he battled back. To see his son and daughter get married and have kids of their own. When he was diagnosed with diabetes and eventually lost part of his leg, he continued to fight on. When he suffered renal failure and began dialysis, he continued to fight on. As recently as September, when doctors didn’t expect him to make it through the night, he fought on and gave us another 5 months. He fought to see another birthday, another Christmas, another New Year.

We’re not here in mourning. We’re here today to celebrate the life of our warrior.