My Biggest Influence (guest commentator Jr.)

My Grandfather is a man of his word who says what he means and means what he says. He is honest, almost to a fault, and keeps his promises. I have had the opportunity to watch him stick to his word, even when it requires great sacrifice, and it has been a huge influence on me. In fact, it convinced me that his honesty and integrity are the things I want to emulate.

One example of my Grandfather’s "promise keeping" that I have observed is his faithfulness to my Grandmother through her time of sickness.

My Grandparents were married in 1949, almost sixty years ago. They were young, but each made the serious vow to love each other "for better or worse, in sickness and health, until death . . ." I have been told that over the course of their sixty years together, they shared the ups and downs of a typical life with no more challenges than most until a few years ago when my Grandmother became sick.

The last five years of my Grandmother’s life she suffered from a severe illness that slowly robbed her of her memory and ability to communicate. She became dependent on a wheel chair for mobility and ultimately spent a good part of her day in her bed. At first, her condition was not unmanageable, and my Grandfather cared for her at home. After a few years, he was overwhelmed and brought in some home care givers. Then when she needed more constant attention, he moved with her into an assisted living center even though he didn’t really need assistance for himself, but because he wanted to be with her. Then when she needed even more, he found a facility where she could have twenty-four hour a day nursing care with doctors on call, but that would allow him to stay in the same building so he could see her every day. He chose to eat his meals with her rather than seek the companionship of others there who were more communicative. He sat with her and held her hand to comfort her. He did all this because he promised to love "for better or worse." Through all of this suffering and sickness my Grandfather was there with her every step of the way from helping her eat at the dinner table to just holding her hand as she slept.

My Grandmother recently passed from this life into the next. We all miss her terribly and sense a great loss, but everyone, especially me, has been very impressed with my Grandfather’s promise keeping, and that is one reason why he is one of the most significant people in my life.

He taught me by example how to be true to one’s word.