Elsa's Story

My grandfather's name was Sumner Savadman, but we called him “Bipa”. He was always our Bipa. Um, he passed in October 2021 when I was a freshman in college. I don't remember specific stories about him, but I remember, like, how he made you feel, and how he made you feel like you were always, like, welcomed and always, like, he was so kind and genuinely, like, wanted to know how your day was. Like a lot of people ask, like, “Oh, like, you know, how's it going? How are you?” But he genuinely really wanted to know and would give you his full attention to, um, what you had to say in, in about your life. He, um, was very empathetic and caring. And even if it wasn't even just towards, like, his family, it was towards, like, everybody that he knew. He just made them feel like they were welcomed and wanted to, you know, get to know them. And he did this throughout his entire life.

When my grandparents retired, they went on, like, a bunch travels and traveled around the world and everything like that. But they, like, met friends in every single place that they knew. They, um, would even, like, invite them, like, back, like, to the US. They were, like, in Australia, and they were talking with, like, their tour guide and some of their other friends, and they came and, like, visited them on Cape Cod down the Cape.

He was always very calm and gentle, and just being, like, meet you where you were and, you know, figure out things with you and how he could help you in any way that he could. But, you know along those things, he also had his subtle dry humor. He would always, you know, never make fun of people. He never wanted to talk badly about people or never, you know, said an unkind thing about anyone, really. Um, he would always just have his subtle dry humor and brighten other people's days.

Um, he's also a big coach. Another big thing about him was it the, was sports. He loves sports. From when I remember him best is I would, like, come up the stairs of, like, their loft, and he would just be sitting there with his goldfish next to him and, like, the big box of it, he's just sitting there eating and watching the Red Sox game or watching the Celtics or anything like that. He had a blanket for every single, like, Boston sports team, and we still have them to this day. I don't really remember the story exactly, but basically he was, like, really good at baseball, and he was asked to be on one of the major league teams, but he was like, “Uh, like sounds amazing, but I have to support my family and I'm gonna go, you know be this engineer over here in Ohio.”

He always put his family first. He always wanted us to feel welcomed, but he truly cared about other people, too. He's one of a kind. I think there were so many, like, kind qualities about him. And when he passed, we had his Celebration of Life. It really brought the community people together, and everybody really shared how much love he had for other people and how much he really made them feel. It's not really about, you know the specific memories or specific things that he did. It was more, you know, the general feeling and appreciation that you had for other people.

So I think, as I, you know, move forward in my life, I wanna do those same things and meet and, you know, make people feel like they have a space and they have, you know, a place. I never really, like, thought about, like, my relationship with him before that. It only wasn’t until after he passed that I really was like, “Oh, like, this was my grandfather.” I guess I never really thought much about it because I was like 18, and I was just doing my own thing, living my own life. And then it wasn't really until – I’m 22 now. And I've learned more things about him every single time that we talk about him. Every single time that we talk about him, it's a new story. It's a new feeling that he gave somebody. It's a new, you know, experience. I feel like even after he's passed, I've grown more close to him because I really cherished the person that he was.