[blueerica]

My grandfather was a quiet man. Hardworking and did right by his family 100% of the time. I gave the eulogy at his funeral. Of all the amazing things I knew about him (he saved my life and helped me to become the person I am today, which I think is a pretty good person), I had no idea the impact he'd had on the lives of others until his funeral. We expected around 100, maybe a few more to attend. When all was said and done, as I took the podium, I realized that there had to be at least 300 people there, perhaps more. The church had people standing outside who couldn't get in.

Some had traveled across town, some across the state. Many even came from out of state. Once I realized that I knew so few of the people there (relatively), I decided to open up the floor for them to talk about my grandpa - and the stories I heard fill my heart and my memory of him today. People came that knew him from during the Korean war. They told stories of advice he'd given them, and one man - who went by the name of Curly - told a story about how my grandpa saved his life.

Throughout his life, these small acts of kindness left a big imprint with these people. If we can hope to do anything in this lifetime, it's to leave that sort of thing behind. My grandfather didn't need the glory in his lifetime, but on the day we put him in the ground will stand out in my mind for the rest of my life. I realized then that he was the kind of person I wanted to be, that I would never know the depth of impact he had on those that were no longer around to tell the story, and that we all have that chance in our lifetimes, whether we're helping the lady next door, the kid crossing the street - or if you're in Zambia, like my friend Will who will no doubt leave a legacy behind for the people he'd helped over there, even if they'd never make it to America to tell us the story.

On another note - its good to examine our lives, but not too much. Spending too much time looking back doesn't allow us to be in the present, nor does it help us to move into the future. (Now it's time for a trite phrase...) "All things in moderation."