David Paul Egigian

Barbara Bonilla 50w

Madeline Bonilla Tribute to her Poppa

Hello everyone. If you don’t already know me, my name is Maddy and I am the youngest child of Manny and Barbara Bonilla, and the youngest grandchild of Dave and Mary Egigian, better known to most as Nonna and Poppa. Poppa was a brother, father, uncle, and cousin, but to me, he was my grandfather and one of my best friends, with an unbreakable bond from the beginning and forever. From the time I was born til I was about 2-3 months, I went through what my family called my witching hour. Every night, at 7 o’clock, unless I were with my parents or Poppa, I would throw a fit, screaming, and crying. One night, my parents went out to an event and they left Geena and me with our Tia, but my witching hour came by and well I screamed. My sister tried to calm me but it didn’t work, so they decided to call Poppa. He got there, got me, and right away, the crying ended. I think that established the closeness of our relationship from an early age. Growing up, if I wasn’t with my parents or sister, I was at Nonna and Poppa's. Either begging Nonna to take me to the zoo or watching morning game shows and drinking coffee with Poppa at an absurdly young age. I could not tell you how many hours I spent with him, but I would give anything and everything to relive just a few of them with him. Instead, I get to stand here and tell each and every one of you just how amazing he was, though if you knew him, you already know that. He was a family man, one of the biggest I know. When I was younger, he’d take me on bike rides down the path behind Orange Park and South San Francisco High School. He even attached a little basket to the front of my little pink bike 1. because I thought it would be cute and wanted it and 2. to hold my water bottle because he had his own water bottle holder. He didn’t care that putting the basket on would take time or that I begged him to tediously run ribbon through the holes of the basket to make it “cuter,” he did it anyway because he knew it would make me happy. He never had a problem doing things for others if it made them happy. I He also stemmed my interest in random video games from a young age, he helped me take care of my WebKinz, named them – though sometimes incorrectly like the reindeer that was going to be Rudolph but ended up as Reeolph – and built my little gardens and rooms. He also taught me how to play Mario on my Nintendo, always looking up different strategies and ways for me to pass levels I thought were impossible. This was a technique I saw him use many years later, through his Zelda and Mario games that he would play in his room. He also absolutely loved sports, watching and playing. Any chance he got, he was at my and my sister’s games or watching football on TV. Even a few weeks ago, he was recording the Tulane versus East Carolina football game to watch while I was there, in hopes of seeing me on the screen. He’s part of the reason I pursued field events when I ran track in high school. He always told me the stories about when he ran track, especially those of him running a decathlon at A.P. Giannini – which got him a special uniform to wear to gym class that he was extremely proud of – and doing high jump, which I followed in his footsteps during my freshmen and sophomore years of high school. But past these sports, he had a love for participating in two activities specifically and they were golf and bowling. He bowled 6 perfect games in his life, winning one USA bowling tournament with his partner, but made it a point to say they were never able to bowl a perfect game together. He’d get one, then his partner but never both, he set the expectations for himself so high and never settled til he could reach them. He also hit 3 holes in 1 in his life, two of which he shared with Geena and me. The first was in Sharp Park, on the 6-hole, and it was 138 yards. The second was on the 4-hole in Lincoln Park, where he hit a perfect shot at 140-something yards. He never failed to amaze me with his talent in sports, but also in daily life skills. Every contact lens my mom dropped while getting herself and me ready in the morning, was found in seconds when he’d come over. Anything else we lost, he’d find in no time. Sometimes I thought he was taking it so he could impress us with how quickly he’d be able to find things. But that was just another thing about him, his humor, his smile, and his laugh could all light up an entire room. He laughed at the small things in life and always made me feel like the funniest person in the room. It’s been years since I lost someone who meant so much to me. But I think this loss is especially difficult because as young as I still may be, I am finally old enough to fully feel the loss and the weight of what’s now missing in me. As much as my heart aches in this process, for myself, my nonna, my parents, my sister, her fiancé – Chloe, and everyone close to us, I also know that it’s okay to feel like that and that none of us are alone in this. On October 15th at 8:30 in the morning, the day after my Poppa’s passing, I went on my Instagram and looked at the post I had made just the day prior. I clicked on the like count and saw the number 333. For those of you who don’t know, there are numbers called angel numbers, which are a repetitive sequence of three or four numbers that appear in seemingly random places in your life. I don’t see angel numbers too often, but that morning, I felt something within me telling me not to ignore it and to look it up. The definition was this: “angel number 333 is a message sent from your guardian angel that they are by your side helping you to make the hard decisions in your life that you may not want to make. This isn't a message to put you down, but rather to build you up and help you to find self-acceptance and love.” So, Poppa, I know that you’re guiding me, now as I stand here celebrating your life and in everything I do from here on out. I will continue to live my life as an image of you, doing everything I do with you in mind. Thank you to everyone that’s here, not only for supporting my family and me but for coming together to celebrate Poppa with us.

Love, G

Poppa loved bowling, golfing, fishing, video games and cars. I’ll share a few of his greatest accolades in his favorite things. -He had 6 perfect games bowling -he has 3 Holes in one in golf -He once caught a 12lb, 15 inch trout on an 8lb line. He said he let the fish tucker himself out because that's the only way to catch a big fish. -He was #1 in the world out of 45 million for the Facebook game Mafia Wars. -He beat all the Zelda games ever created. And I don’t think he slept until he won. -He beat all levels of supermario on Maddy’s Nintendo DS, although there may have been a broken Nintendo DS in the process -He had more cars than he could remember. However his favorite was his red ‘47 Chevy convertible, which he met nonna in. I have had so many amazing times with Poppa. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to write the right words that fully depict him in his entirety. But Here are a handful of my favorite memories, I feel capture his personality and shine light on who he was. Poppa dropped me off for my first day of preschool and I was upset and scared. I told him to wait outside and not to leave. Five minutes into the day I ran to the window to look for Poppa. He sat in perfect view of my classroom and waved to me. Most would have left after this encounter. Poppa sat there all day and I routinely checked to ensure he hadn't left me. But he was there every time. My mom told him he had to stop but of course he didn’t. This lasted for three hours a day for three months. He was competitive and borderline cocky, even in his 80s. I took him bowling for his 81st birthday. He beat me. But to add insult to injury, he pulled a steph curry no look, by turning around as the ball was half way down the lane and said “It’s automatic” with a little smirk. Simultaneously down went the remaining pins. He was notorious for buying things off of ebay that never worked. He stopped smoking cold turkey, not because it was good for him, but because he calculated how much money he was spending that he’d rather spend on broken items from ebay. He was an avid bay area sports fan and would frequently be caught yelling at the TV. He was also one of my biggest fans throughout my athletic career. Unfortunately, he was forced to watch half of my softball games from the outfield because he was unable to control his commentary about errors or poor performances. And I'll let you know, No One was safe. Not the coach, other YOUTH players, umpire or me. When I told him I was getting married, he was so excited. He jumped up and ran to his closet seeking approval for the slacks he wanted to wear. Unfortunately, the pants were not quite what I had pictured him in. Hanging from the hanger he had pulled out, was a crisp new pair of Nike sweatpants. Don’ t worry, I let him down easy.  Poppa was our own private security as he watched the ring video footage diligently. He would say things like, You got home late last night or I saw you tripped on the stairs this morning. He thought it was hilarious one day when he saw me stumbling to the front door drunk the night before. He hit me with a “how ya feeling” and laugh so hard he almost cried. He was the one we all called when we couldn’t find something. This naturally made Easter his favorite. He loved the competition and there was nothing more exciting to him than easily beating everyone in an Easter egg hunt. The excitement Poppa brought to Easter made it my favorite holiday. Poppa was the target of most of my pranks when I was younger. My favorite prank of all time was to wrap a rubber band around the extendable sprayer near the sink faucet causing water to spray at the person who turned it on. One day, I let Poppa in on my shenanigan in hopes to make Nonna my victim. 20 minutes later, Poppa forgot and soaked the front of his shirt. In anger, he shouted his infamous line, “What’s coming off here”.  Poppa was always there to save the day. I called my dad one day because my car was smoking and he told me to drive it home. I attempted to, but then white smoke began profusely flowing out of the hood of my car. So I called poppa. He asked me 2 things, are you okay and where are you. Nonna went to grab her coat, but Poppa was already burning rubber and half way to me. Poppa got to me and saved me, however, he had no knowledge about insurance or towing so Nonna got there 15 minutes later and ordered the tow.  I’ll begin this story with an apology. Mom and dad, I am sorry,  I have a confession. About a week after receiving my drivers license, I was driving with Poppa and rear ended a car. I told poppa I was so nervous to tell my parents and report it to my insurance company. He got out of the car, pulled all the money out of his wallet and made an under the table deal with the driver of the other vehicle and never spoke of it ever again.  Poppa was never a man of tons of words or long explanations but he taught me so many things through the way he lived life. He has taught me 1. To enjoy the little things 3. anything could be fixed with a little WD-40 and some duct tape 4. Family comes first 5. Money talks in a fender bender 6. Never grow up Poppa was charming, funny, stubborn and a rebel. Like my first day of preschool, Poppa was always there for me. No matter what. I am going to miss him and his inviting “hi babe”. I will hold a piece of him in me forever. I know one thing for sure, he is giving heaven some hell.