You've heard me rant before about the nature of the average human being, how selfish and arrogant and frankly idiotic most are. This entry will not be another of those but a tribute to the kind of person who seems to have gone extinct.
My grandfather passed away yesterday morning after a few years of ailing health. He was a man of few words, yet you always knew where he stood. There was no fudging the line between right and wrong with him. He believed what he believed without hesitation and his actions always comported with those beliefs.
He was a child of the Depression, one of The Greatest Generation; people who knew hard work and hardship, yet were always there to lend a helping hand or give a piece of important advice, WHEN ASKED. He was never one to meddle in your business but you always knew the answer to a dilemma by watching the way he lived his life.
No truer proof of the quality of people exists than the quality of their children. My grandparents raised some of the most genuine, kind and hard working people you'll meet...learned, charitable and respectful to all, just like they were.
My grandfather was like a second father to me, except he was always there when you needed him; a counterbalancing force to the man who was my biological father. If you needed some cash, he'd put you to work; if you needed some advice, pull out the cribbage board and have a chat. He never uttered many words but said much.
I could go on and on and on with specific examples of my fondest memories -- from working cutting wood with him, to playing on a softball team together when I was a teen and he was 60, to the way he looked through you peering over his glasses with that "no bullshit" way of his -- but the point of this post is merely to attempt to articulate what an important person he was to me and how he'll truly be missed as an example of the way people should be.
Hopefully soon I'll have a piece on BoSox Tavern about him as a Red Sox fan.
4 comments:
Well said Zeb. I wonder what it was about cards and Gramp. We played cards, Hearts in our case, with Gram, Gramp, Uncle Bud and Aunt Marge. During those games I saw a side of Gramp that I'd never really seen before. Maybe it was the setting, the company, or the fact that I was a "grown up" that made the difference.
But you'd better noy be playing cards that involved betting, lest you meet the back of his hand!
LOL at the grown-up remark. It makes me think of Thanksgiving and the 2 tables. Since I was the oldest of the generation, I was always at the grown-up table.
Thank you for the post Zeb. It helped to clarify many things that I know about Grampy, even though I didn't know him nearly as well as many of the cousins.
One of the things that I did know about Grampy (and that I definitely share) was his intense curiosity about the world... history, science, politics. There were always piles of the most fascinating magazines and books around the living room. His eagerness to gasp new concepts was impressive even as the world changed drastically. And he shared that with me, encouraging my own intellectual endeavors.
Thanks for the opportunity to share,
-Eric
He was from the 'old school' as far as some of his attitudes but he never told his daughters that there was anything they couldn't do. He was one of the most intelligent people I have ever knows but didn't hesitate to ask a question if there was something he didn't know. One of his qualities that has carried through to future generations was his willingness to speak up at an injustice. His middle name could have been integrity.
The Oldest Child
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