The things I remember most about my Grams are:

He was funny. He always told me really funny jokes. Maybe I was the only one who thought they were funny because I’m only 10. (But they cracked me up.)

He sent me really good emails too. Like the Akinator. It’s the coolest website, because you can think of anyone in the world and the Akinator will figure it out. ( Well, maybe I liked it because I’m only 10.)

He would send me pictures of ice castles, of paper sculptures, of sidewalk art, or cool graffiti. Whenever I got an email from my Grams, I knew it was going to be good. He didn’t send me crap like he sends you guys. He took care of the little guys.
 
And we baked cookies together.  I used to cook naked. He wasn’t naked. That would’ve been weird. But I was. I wouldn’t do that, now that I’m 10. But I used to. Bubby has a picture of me doing it, so I can’t pretend I didn’t.

When I was a kid... .around 4 and 5, I used to visit him every week, and we would go into his office and he had an easel in there.  We would paint and eat licorice and he would sit down next to me and we would talk.
 
And he was really good at math. Which didn’t help me much, because I wasn’t doing a lot math at the time, but I sure could use him now, as I'm learning fractions and multiplying decimals because I’m 10. 

But I guarantee you that Grandpa is having an amazing time in heaven.

I bet his hearing is really good, and he can actually use his poles for skiing instead of walking.

He probably is having the time of his life up there, if God actually exists.

And if there is a heaven, I know Grams is in it, because he wasn’t a good person just to get into heaven. He was a good person because that’s who he was.

I know he didn’t believe in heaven. But I do. And I know this will come as a shock to many of you - but he wasn’t always right.
 
In a few words, I would say he was kind, generous, he thought of other people, he was loving and courageous, because he fought for what he believed in.  My mom has that picture framed in our house. I’ve been going to rallies since I was a baby. Grams taught my mom that, and she passed it on to me.
 
I remember the day that my grandpa taught me the saying "The glass is half full."  I heard it before, but I never really understood it until he explained it to me. He was a really good teacher. My glass is half full because I have Grandpa’s DNA. So that means, I’ll always be curious, I’ll fight for what I believe in, I’ll have my own membership to Costco, and I’ll put bumper stickers all over my bicycle.
 
Whenever I need to make a decision, I’m just going to ask myself, “What would Jerry Manheim do? In this situation what would Jerry Manheim do?   What is the strategy he would use to figure out this problem?  What are the words he would use to describe the process of the going through the problem? What emails would he send to everyone about the problem?”
 
Grams has a big part in my heart, and I know he has a big part in yours too. He was really important to me.  I'm sad that he isn’t here anymore. But I’m happy to see all these people who love him like I do; who care to take the time to come here today to celebrate what a good man Grams was.

He was going to see me do the show “Fiddler on The Roof” in a few weeks. Since he can’t come in person, I thought I’d sing you a song from the show, and he can watch it from heaven. I love you Grams.

My friend Reid is here and I’d like to invite him up to the stage to sing with me. We’re going to sing “To Life” so we can celebrate Jerry’s life together.