Paul Francis Gramuglia

If the words on this page could be shot through with light, or at least scroll gilded in illuminated manuscript, it would feel much more fitting for what it must say. For the child who left this world on Saturday May 26, 2018 was as much light as flesh. After a grace-filled eight and a half years on this earth, Paul Francis Gramuglia left his family, his friends, and his gorgeous red-headed body that didn’t work quite right, and joined his sister Pia and the heavenly hosts in the banquet of our Lord. We will one day rejoice with him. But for now, oh how we wish that Paul could have stayed. And. We know that eight and a half years were about eight and a half years more than his body should have allowed. Born with only a small cat’s meow, Paul needed immediate help to breathe. It would be the first of a lifetime of interventions to make up for what his body did not supply. Paul cheated death many more times than we can count. But the trouble the Ginger Menace preferred was the trouble he could create, which would garner a smile that didn’t quit. Tickling ankles, arms and faces, grabbing and immobilizing busy arms, disrupting medical cares, tossing all manner of objects “everywhere!”, turning on his shows on the TV without permission, disrupting his father’s phone apps, slamming doors over and over, erupting in body-shaking laughter when his father and brother indulged his requests to “bump their heads” and maim themselves Stooge-style, or driving his chair in circles and perhaps a random tree. Trouble, trouble, trouble! Paul’s more peaceful pursuits included memorizing many seasons of Sesame Street, enjoying all manner of ceiling fans, chasing sirens and emergency vehicle lights on long drives, taking long walks, and long “stays” at his stations on Woodland Drive and Avery Street, and Avery Street and Kelly Road watching all the cars and trucks, being deputized to multiple police teams, and enjoying endless waves, beeps, and Hi Paulie! salutations, mostly from hundreds of people his parents didn’t even know. In his Elmo-slippered feet, he was the cherished Orchard Hill/PR Smith sentinel. Paul loved Wapping and Eli Terry Elementary schools, loved the comradery of friends, teachers, aids, administrators, school nursing staff. He loved going to Mass at Saint Margaret Mary, and enjoyed loudly singing the last notes of songs, and hand-signing sacred words out of context to make us laugh, making trouble even in the Lord’s house. Most of all, Paul could not contain his happiness when his requests to go to the homes of his Ma and Grandpa and Nonna and Nonno were affirmed. Life was so good. In heaven, Paul joined his baby sister Pia Faustina and his Nonna, Maria Scalise Gramuglia. No doubt his Nonna is thrilled to be able finally to feed him, gluten be darned. In addition to a huge community who loved him, Paul leaves behind his parents, Frank and Ann, and brothers Luca and Leo, who says, “Paul was a big orange ball of joy in our hearts and without him life is dull and gray.” He also leaves behind his Nonno (Raffaele Gramuglia), Ma (Kathryn Brewster), and Grandpa (Cy Brewster); his zias Rosanna (John) Gramuglia, Anna (David) Pelletier, Linda (Chuck) Engley, Patty Gramuglia, and his zio Tony; his aunts Maureen (Jim) Blanchard, Clare Brewster, Mary (Chad) Buri, Catherine (Rob) Ruscz, Nora (Sean) O’Mahoney, Martha (Chad) Allegro, Lisette (Doug) Frasier, Aloise (Lt. David) Schmitt, and his uncles Cy (Cathy) Brewster and Brent Brewster; and 27 beloved first cousins. We are deeply grateful to the nurses, therapists, and medical teams who made Paul’s life so much better and made it possible for him to live at home with his family; and to Connecticut’s Make-A-Wish Foundation and Shawmut for gifting the wheel-chair accessible Fort Paul in his own backyard. All are welcome to join the family for Paul’s wake on Thursday, May 31, 2018 from 10 - 11:30 a.m. at the Samsel & Carmon Funeral Home, 419 Buckland Road, South Windsor followed by a Funeral Mass at 12 NOON at Saint Margaret Mary Church, 80 Hayes Road, South Windsor. Burial will follow at Mount Saint Benedict Cemetery in Bloomfield. Please wear happy colors, Paul had no truck with sadness. Rest in trouble and light up the heavens, Paulie G. We all love you so. For online condolences and guest book, please visit www.carmonfuneralhome.com