EXCERPT FROM AIDAN O’DONNELLY JR.’S EULOGY TO HIS FATHER
No one would say you were perfect, Da. Neither would anyone say that you were the world’s greatest father—but I don’t think you aspired to be the greatest at anything.
You taught me what it is to be a leader, and know that I’m grateful for those life lessons even as I go my own way when I take over your legacy.
I don’t think I ever pleased you or made you proud of me until last Christmas when I shared what truly made me a man. As I stand here today, our family around us, mourning your passing, I know if I’m ever blessed with a child, you taught me how not to be a father, and I’ll thank you again for that lesson.
But for all that we never agreed on anything, for all that we butted heads on most things, and for all that I’ll forge my own path and will never step upon the one you left behind, know that I’ll miss you, you ornery bastard.
You left a hole in our lives that none of us know how to fill.
Maybe that’s fitting.
I couldn’t say it in life, but I can say it in death—love you, Da.
Rest in… I don’t think you’d enjoy peace. So, rest in chaos. That was always your preference.