Eulogy by Kaylyn Marie Ponniah

          Good afternoon everyone. My name is Kaylyn. Gary Westerhout is my grandfather. My sister and I call him Papa.

          Papa is a friendly person and likes to make friends. That’s why he has so many friends. He has big eyes and likes to frown, especially when he reads. He has nice personality too. Papa makes people laugh when he makes jokes like ‘I am red red botak head’ and ‘Yellow yellow dirty fellow’. He also likes bright colors. He likes to watch ‘Animal Planet’ and football. His favorite team is ‘Manchester United’.

          Papa rides a motorbike. He brings us to see the cows, chickens, and goats. Papa always brought us lots of food to eat when he visited us in KL. When I was small, he showed me some magic tricks. One of the tricks was when he made something disappear in his mouth and made it reappear from my ear. My cousin told me he was very proud of us and he also took a lot of pictures of us when we were babies. He likes to hear me play ‘Silent Night’ on the organ. My papa was excited when he went to Australia.

          I felt sad when I saw Papa in hospital. My mother was so sad when Papa passed away. And I also love him and miss him too. Papa is now in heaven, I feel very happy for him because he does not have to feel sick anymore. I hope you all feel the same way as me.

          Thank you.

Take note:

Mind you, everything written above, was thought of, solely by the 9 year old herself. Profound child indeed.

Several arguments she raised up when correcting her grammar:

• "Good afternoon everyone" VS " Good afternoon aunties & uncles"
  • there are young people in the crowd too
• "Gary..is my grandfather" VS "Gary..was my grandfather"
  • just because he passed away, doesn't mean he has stopped being my grandfather.
  • I have not two, but only one grandfather (referring to mother's side only)
• "My cousin" VS "My teenage cousin, Mandy"
  • I insisted that she didn't point out the details! =P