Cheers to Cheesecake : Ernie "Papa" Pereira 1/29/41-11/16/13

I have never had someone that I was so close to pass away. My other grandpa passed away when I was 5, and I lost 3 of my great grand parents when I was 6 and 7. I remember my great-grand dad and great-grandma so much though. I remember going over to their house in West Columbia and playing in their back yard. They had two cats, Mr. and Mrs. Kitty. Great Grandma would always do my make up so I would look just like her; bright red lipstick, rosy pink cheeks, and just a dab of eye shadow to make your eyes sparkle. When she passed away, I got all of her costume jewelry and her broaches, so that is what I am making my wedding bouquet out of. My other great grandma, Mamie, was Ma's mom. I only remember visiting her in the nursing home, and I don't remember her talking much either. Still, I am so thankful to have had the chance to grow up with not only grand parents in my life, but great grand parents too! I hope that my children one day, will be able to know their my grand parents too. The bond that I have with Ma is unbreakable because really, I am a mini her with our energetic personalities! I hope that my children one day will understand our relationship, and make the same bonds with my mom and Stu's mom.

Papa was the rock of our family. Mostly because he was the only man that made it though all of these girls, but then again, he created the family, so it was his doing! With Aunt Debbie and my mom being divorced, and Aunt Allie never being married, I was convinced by middle school that guys weren't allowed in our family. Three daughters, three granddaughters, and only one grandson. Yes, I have two older brothers, but since they are Dad's sons, they weren't really Papa's grandsons (even though Ma and Papa always acted like they were).

If anything from your car to your zipper in your dress broke, Papa would fix it to be brand new. There are countless things around Ma's house that are chipped, broken or torn, and somehow Papa managed to put them all back together. A handy man is the least of a nickname we would describe Papa as. He was so much more for our family and for many of his friends.

November 16th, 2013 at 7:02, Papa left us here on earth and joined our heavenly father with a bedroom full of family by his side. His 19 month battle with brain cancer had come to and end.

It was a difficult past 6 months for me as a grandchild. I wanted to remember my Papa as the full of life, go getter that he was! I moved up to Greenville at the end of May, and the following weekend, Papa lost feeling in his left leg. I am so glad that a short two weeks later, he got to come visit me and see my new apartment here. He refused to use a walker at that time, so he was walking with just a cane, and getting along fine. I remember him coming in and sitting in one of the chairs and just watching tv and falling asleep. When everyone left, I just started crying to Stuart. This was not like Papa. He should have been getting up and looking around at everything. Making sure my fridge was working right, the doors locked tight enough, the windows were sealed, and all my drawers opened correctly. I hated what cancer was doing to him.
Not only did I hate having to see him go down hill every weekend when Stu and I would go home and stay there, but it was hard for me to grasp the fact that we had to do basically everything for him. Papa never asked for help or complained that he was in pain so when we would have to change him, or help him get up and use the toilet, I hated having to do it. I told mom weekly that we should hire someone to help out with Ma and Papa. Finally in October, they got a hospice nurse to help out with everything. Of course my family immediately fell in love with her! I even think Papa liked her :)

I went with Mom and Ma along with Aunt Debbie, Aunt Allie and Joey to the funeral home on Monday to plan the funeral, along with pick out the casket and vault for him to be buried in. What should have taken an hour, took two and a half for my family. No one has any kind of decision making skills, or any sense of urgency. Papa would not have cared what he was buried in, as long as it was nothing froo froo or pink! After many options of choosing that, we then had to choose what kind of background and music would play in the slide show that would be visible on the website (see it below) and at his funeral. There were many decisions and different point of views in the room, so nothing was easy.

Wayne Lawson was Papa's best friend from the Mill that he worked at when I was young. I do not recall how long Papa worked at Springs Mills, but he retired when I was in 5th grade. He still would get calls often from people at work who just had a quick question, and I am sure he still went back to help out someone if they needed him there. I was donating some of his jackets for our coat drive and Ma came across two that he got for his 25 anniversary of working for the company. Wayne had often been a name that Ma and Papa talked about, but I do not remember him until now. He seems much younger than Papa, but talks about him like he has known him his whole lifetime. During everything the past 6 months, Wayne and his wife visited often, and were by my family's side so much during the last week of Papa's life, and the week that he passed away. Wayne would come or at least call everyday to see how we were doing. I laughed when I answered the phone at one point because he said he had no idea which daughter or grand daughter he was talking to, but he wanted to check on us!
He spoke at Papa's funeral and said something that I think will stick in my head for the rest of my life. He talked about Heaven in a way that I have never thought of it. He said that on November 16th, God announced that Ernie Pereira would be joining everyone in Heaven soon, so he invited all his friends and family to gather at the gates of Heaven to welcome him. He talked about how his parents and family would welcome him in and they would just talk about everything. Wayne said that he knows that when his day comes, and he leaves his days on earth, that he knows his best friend Ernie will be there with all his friends and family to welcome him into Heaven, and he would be so excited to see him again.