The Greatest

My mind works in funny ways. I remember things by their associations and relationships. This year my birthday is going to fall on a Wednesday. Today I realized that the last time my birthday was on a Wednesday was the summer my grandfather passed away.

The Friday before my birthday, I had a couple friends over to celebrate. We ordered a bunch of pizza and watched some movies; I can't even remember if they spent the night. I am pretty sure they did though, because when we got the news about Grandpa later on Saturday, I remember sitting there feeling completely disconnected and not understanding how in the span of one day it was possible for me to go from celebrating to mourning.

My Grandfather was exactly the type of person that I think of when I hear a reference to "The Greatest Generation." He put so much heart into everything he did, and he did A Lot. While he was alive, I was his little "Princess." He always seemed to have a smile and a story, and one of my favorite memories is of him catching me by myself one summer night on the patio in New Mexico and telling me to just "Take it easy and smile a bit. Life is too short to be rushed and worried all the time..." His words were probably slightly ironic, given how hard he had to push himself to build up his business and carry out a successful career, but he was so cheerful and whimsical whenever I saw him that it was hard to not see that he had put a lot of joy (amid the hard work) into his life.

My Dad sometimes talks about how Grandpa was "A good man." I spent a lot of time today thinking about a lot of the stories he tells, and about how I really want to be able to carry that into my life. At the risk of sounding awfully pretentious, I feel like I am so lucky to come from a family with a tradition of service and hard work (on my Mom and Dad's sides). Occasionally I will think of Grandpa and what I knew of him, and I ask myself if I'm doing the right thing with my life - if I'm doing something worthwhile that's going to carry on the traditions of those who came before. I can imagine him out there somewhere, looking down on me, and I ask myself if I'd make him proud if he was here to see what I'm doing now. Maybe it's all just a mind game, I don't know, but it is still really good motivation for me.

Grandpa worked on a component of the Mercury space capsule. I was at the Air & Space museum today and took a picture - it was comforting to be able to reach out and touch something that he contributed to, and to think about how much of a difference one person's life really can make.