58

I breathed out as I tried to stop the tears from flowing as the people dressed in black stared at me or looked down at their laps. Gigi understood more people than I could count. She always knew when someone was hurt, scared, sad. She knew personal things before they even knew it themselves. I cannot even remember every time Gigi would hold me when I was sad or scared or even embarrassed and how she would save me from myself.
I wiped my eyes and closed my eyes. She was unbelievably compassionate. Her heart and generosity knew no bounds. Her door was always open to where you could go to her for the littlest of things or the biggest of things. You could even go to her if you just wanted to learn a simple lesson or wanted a cup of her special tea.
I believe everyone that walks this planet makes a legacy of themselves. Whether it being so simple to helping one person or being so complex to saving thousands, it was something. Gigi saved everyone she came in contact with. She helped all of us in some way. She taught us things we would have never learned without her guidance. Now that I know that she is always gonna be looking down and watching all of us individually, I feel like I can accomplish things she told me I would. I don’t know where she is or if I will ever be able to see her again, but I know she will be watching us.
I walked back to my seat after I closed out my eulogy with some kind words to my beautiful grandmother. I reach over to grab Joey’s hand and he immediately grasped it to give me that silent support that he knew I needed. Emilie was playing with her note cards and I knew she didn’t want to do this. She had told me while we were getting ready today that she didn’t want to get up to speak about Gigi because she thought that her words would never do her justice of how amazing she actually is.
I watched her walk up and take a breath at the podium before gripping the sides. Gigi was the strongest woman I knew. Anything I say right now won’t even do justice for all the good that she did to this world, to all of you sitting here. She was a very passionate, loving woman who was extremely selfless and cared less for herself and more about others.
I tightened my grip on Joey’s hands and he looked down at me before wrapping his arm around my shoulder and kissing my forehead. He leaned closer to my ear to whisper to me. I’m here, okay ? I’m here.
I nod my head as more tears start to fall down my face as I looked up to listen to my sister. She has always been there for me throughout my lifetime. The day I was born, the day I graduated from elementary school, the day I realized that my goal in life was to be like her. She has taught me many lessons in life, but the most important is definitely being there for others is better than not.
I turned in my chair to sob into Joey’s shoulder. I felt a hand lay on my shoulder and assumed it was one of my parents since they were sitting next to me. Joey ran his hand through my hair as he held me as tight as he possibly could.
I want to thank her for being such a bright light for me every time the world started to seem dark. She guided me to the sun and helped me through everything that has ever happened to me. I don’t know where I would even be without her and I’m so sorry that she won’t get to see me live my life being just like her, but I know she’ll be watching me with everything I do.
She said her final goodbyes to the amazing woman we were all here to celebrate before sitting back down as the pastor went back up to talk. Once he had said a final prayer and dismissed us all to the room as they put her into the ground, everyone started standing up as did I and Mom immediately came to stand in front of me to wipe my tears away with a tissue.
She pulls me into a hug as I try to hold back a sob, but couldn’t seem to do it, so I hid my face in her cardigan and cried like a baby. I felt tingles run through my body from my mate as he rubs my back while my sister hugged his side for comfort.
Everything will be alright, okay ? my mom whispers to me. I promise you, sweetheart, everything will get better through time. It seems so hard right now, but it will soon get better.
I nod my head. Thank you, Mom.
She nods to me, brushing my hair from my face and she holds my hand as we walk into the funeral home to have people hug us and tell us their condolences. For hours, we’ll hear stories of how she has helped everyone here and will be reminded of all the good deeds that she has done for them.
About two hours later, the staff starts to clean up the food that was unfinished and throw away all the trash as people start to leave. Papa is staying with one of his friends for a little bit of time because he lives on the river and we all thought it would be good for him to go sailing with his friends.
You okay, Mom ? Emilie asks as we all stand in the parking lot as she notices that my mom is staring off into space.
I feel as though we all got some closure today and that’s all that I wanted. Hearing those stories of Grandma should be good for all of us to always remember that she was such an amazing person and her character will always be carried through this world.
We all smiled to each other, nodding our heads. Joey’s arm wrapped around my waist with his tie undone because of how tight it was the entire time. His hair was a mess from running his hands through it and his eyes were a bit puffy from the times he cried a bit during the ceremony.
I’m happy you were here, Joey. Since you’re most likely going to be in our lives for quite some time, I’m happy that you were able to meet her before she was gone, my dad says to my boyfriend, bringing a smile to both of our faces.
I set my hand on Joey’s chest. I’m glad he was here too.
He smiled down at me before looking up at my father. Me too, sir. I’m very lucky to have met such an amazing woman that’s looked up to by many.
Mom came over and hugged both of us before giving us a kiss on the cheek as we said our goodbyes because I think all of us just wanted to shower and sleep the sadness away. Emilie stayed with us for a few days because she couldn’t bear to go back home, but her friend is coming over later tonight to just be with her and help her in any way she can, so she was going home with my parents.
I’ve loved having my sister with us for a few days, it was really great to just spend time with her in our time of need. Lila absolutely adores her and they even had a small painting session outside in the courtyard to help get her mind off of Gigi for a bit. The paintings are absolutely beautiful and will probably be hanging up in the quarter house within a few weeks.
We finish up our goodbyes and get in our cars to get home as fast as we can. Joey helps me get into the passenger seat since my leg was kinda hurting from walking so much today. Joey’s the first one out of the parking lot with me sitting in the passenger side, taking my tie and jacket off to breathe for a bit.
How’re you feeling ? I ask, looking over at Joey.
He gives me a confused look before chuckling. I’m supposed to ask you that.
You knew her too. I’ve been very selfish lately and haven’t asked you how you’re doing when you also lost someone. Whenever we saw her, you two talked about lots of things and you were always happy when we got to see her, I say as I fold up my jacket and set it on the backseat of the car.
Well, she was your grandmother, he looks at me as he waits for the light to turn green so he can go. I smile at him, reaching out to take his hand.
Which means she was also yours, I say and I can see him hide his shocked expression at my words before he clears his throat and looks back at the road to drive.
I’m okay, Kade. I’ve dealt with a lot of death in my life as Alpha. I know how I grieve and I hate to say this, but I can do it pretty well. You don’t need to worry about me, he tells me.
I’m here though. You know, if you ever need to talk about anything at all or just need a distraction, I can always help you out. You probably already know that, but I need you to really know that, I tell him and he smiles lightly.