This is the eulogy I wrote and presented at my brother's funeral Mass...
I remember the first time I saw my brother. I was four years old and he was in my mother's arms. She asked me to come over and meet him. And I said, "Oh Mamma, he's so ugly!" But as he grew, he just became more and more adorable in my eyes. Memories...of him catching huge ugly toads. The time we scrambled to get money out of the penny jar when the ice cream truck came around and then missed it. Franco (Frank) came back into the house and my mother asked him where the money was and he said he buried it to grow a money tree. Or the time he was outside playing in the rain and his feet got stuck in the mud and we had to untie his shoes and leave his shoes behind to get him out. He always smelled like a wet dog. He loved his Legos, and maybe that's from where his passion for building and architecture grew. So the ugly baby grew up into a handsome man. We were so proud of him. He collaborated with a renowned architect from Spain on the museum of art at the Rhode Island School of Design. He was instrumental in building libraries and buildings at colleges and universities all along the east coast. He developed a love for cycling and participated in the Pan Mass Challenge for several years, raising funds for cancer research. He was a great cook, loved feeding family and friends. All these things were not even the best things about my brother. What were the best things? His capacity for deep affection and love, for his children Anna and Noah, his parents, me, his brpther-in-law, his niece of Alexis, his aunts and uncles, his cousins, and his friend Bill. His intelligence and love of learning, his curiosity and interest in all sorts of subjects, which he then loved to share with all of us. His artistry in design, building, furniture, art, landscaping. I will miss most of all the way he looked at me whenever I saw him. He'd look me straight in the eyes, he made me feel like I was the only person in his world, he'd smile his gentle smile and hug me like he would never let me go. I'm sure his family, friends, and children felt this too. I'm trying to take comfort in that he is now looking down on all of us, surrounded by the love of our Lord Jesus, the unconditional love he so sought while on this earth with us. I pray that you take comfort in that too, and in knowing he's with his mentor, our beloved Zio Mario, talking philosophically about life, and perhaps, sharing a sip of scotch that they both loved.
