Dan Cajka Eulogy

I was asked to write and read a eulogy for Dan Cajka, may he rest in peace, this past weekend.  This is what I came up with.

Dan Cajka

Dan and Linda were married for over 52 years raising their family of four children, Belinda, Ann, Danny, and John in Pittsburg, PA, Poughkeepsie, here in Kingston, and in Chelmsford, MA.  Dan and Linda’s four children gave them 9 grandchildren, Benjamin, Joshua, Nathan, Rachael, Daniel, Alexa, Victoria, Spencer, and George.

I met Dan in 1982.  In the 27 years that I knew Dan he taught me a few lessons and I’d like to think that perhaps I managed to teach him a few as well.  I’d like to share some of the lessons that Dan taught me with you.

Lesson 1:  Be friendly, courteous, and hospitable – greet everyone by name.  In Dan’s world there are no strangers – only friends that haven’t been met yet.  His hospitality is legend.  I can remember going to Texas in August of 1984.  Only a fool would travel to Dallas in the August heat but somehow Dan didn’t hold that against me.  When he came out to DFW to get me he had a cold beer in the car, a broad smile, and a hearty handshake for me.  We celebrated Ann’s birthday that year in his backyard next to his pool.  There was ice cold beer in the fridge in the garage and barbecued ribs on the grill.

Lesson 2:  You can gain new ethnicity through marriage.  Both of Dan’s parents were Slovak yet he had the luck of the Irish when he was looking for a parking place.  I learned that he acquired this Irish luck by marrying Linda.  He also got some of the Irishman’s blarney but that might have been there before he was married.  I am now part O’Cajka, myself.

Lesson 3:  Papa, my son’s name for Dan, is another word for love.  All of Dan’s grandchildren loved their Papa and Nana.  There was no greater joy for Dan than playing with his grandchildren.  I don’t think that there was any sacrifice that he wouldn’t make for them either.  Dan taught all of his grandchildren to swim in his backyard pool.  Papa made the best pancakes and they were the highlight of any trip to Plano.

Lesson 4 also involved food.  Twinkies are their own food group and a hot dog was a not so secret treat on a weekend shopping trip.  Today I still make it a point to have a hot dog almost every weekend and salute him when I do.

Lesson 5:  Crossword puzzles are to be done in ink.  If you don’t know a word it is perfectly acceptable to make up your own as long as it fits.  No one ever checks to see if you got it right.  Doing your crossword puzzles this way makes it seem that you are really smart with a great vocabulary.  However, I suspect that Dan didn’t actually make up many words when he did his puzzles.

Lesson 6:  It only takes 20 to 30 minutes to peddle a stationary bike from Plano, TX to any town that had a grandchild in it.  Dan often told me after his morning workout routine on the bike with a banana, a cup of coffee, and a crossword puzzle that he’d been to Nashua, NH.  Some times he waited until the next day to peddle home even though he’d never left the house.

Lesson 7 came when Dan and Linda would come to visit.  After George went to bed it was time for a trip to Starbuck’s for a Caramel Frappuccino with extra whipped cream before we sat in the Den for an exciting action movie.  Going to the movies was something that we both enjoyed sitting on the couch with the surround sound volume up a little too high.

Dan and I had a rapport over the years that included a lot of good natured ribbing and teasing.  As George and I were saying goodbye to Dan the last time we saw him alive, I joked with Dan and gave him a friendly barb.  Ann asked him if we were giving him a hard time.  He told her no but then raised his arm, pointed a finger at me, smiled, and said, “Just the big guy.”  This was the final lesson:   I was now the “big guy”, an honor that I hope and pray that I can live up to.

We all celebrated life with Dan at one point or another.  Dan’s life on earth has ended while ours continues.  I imagine Dan in heaven, sitting next to his pool under a warm summer sun with a drink in his hand toasting the Universe waiting for the rest of us to join him.  We’ll be there soon enough but in the meantime Dan will be watching over us and helping our Guardian Angels do their jobs.