Grandpa was a larger than life kind of person. He had such an impact on those that knew him, and even those that did not. His magic touch could be seen in living rooms around the world, happy hours, offices, neighbourhoods, choirs, and especially in our lives.
I can only personally attest to a portion of his legacy, having been raised in the amazing family he gave life to with Grandma. A family of joy and thoughtfulness where we are free to discover ourselves and always have a helping hand when we fall. This raises the question: how do you achieve that?
Grandpa personally taught me how to build a snowman, to ride a bicycle, to drive a lawnmower and a car. I would like to apologize to anyone affected by that last one. I also would not have persevered in learning the piano without his encouragement. He also showed me that one can make it to 62 years of marriage and attain personal success with a lot of work. But again: how?
During these last couple of days I have come to realize just how many lives were made a little brighter by Grandpa. You could have known him for a couple of hours or a couple of decades, yet the consensus seems to be the same: he was a thoughtful man who lived a simple life and believed in enjoying it to the fullest with everyone he came in touch with. So knowing what he did for so long, What was his secret?
The answer to this nagging question came to me as I went through some of my things earlier this week. It proved to be the key to understanding Grandpa's approach to life. It was a message written on a copy of his own book that he had autographed for me. Being a man of short words, he had written only two:
Do Good
-Ed2
