Memories of Summers Long Ago

As I pulled out of the driveway of my grandfather's house this past weekend, my eyes welled up with tears. It seems like every visit that I have with my grandfather these days is on borrowed time. Even though I have flirted with the notion that he may not be the same superhero that I once knew as a boy, I struggle with the thoughts that the callosed hand of cancer will eventually take completely hold of him one day--and my grandpa will leave this world.

I wish each of you could meet my Grandpa Dale. He is built exactly like me with the same broad shoulders, same stalky build and the same steely blue eyes. I have often thought that he is what I will look like when I turn 77 years old.

When I was a young boy, I would spend the months of June, July and parts of August with my grandfather on his farm in Northern Missouri. It was during these times together that I learned some of the most practical wisdom that I have ever encountered. My grandpa is one of those guys who turns every aspect of life into a teachable moment. It was my grandpa who told me that "there are some people in this world who think that their crap doesn't stink...but it does. Don't you be one of them." He also taught me that there is always a place for a man to be a gentleman, there are things in this world worth getting your ass kicked and there are things worth dying for. However, the thing that spoke the most about my grandpa is the fact that he always talked to me. No matter what he was doing or where he was at, he always made me feel like I was someone who deserved his attention.

I know this blog entry probably doesn't resonate with anyone but myself, but I felt like I needed a forum to express many of the difficulties that I am dealing with in watching my hero fade away. Fortunately, my grandfather has come back to Jesus. There was a long spell in his lifetime in which my grandpa was angry at God. I think he was angry that God allowed my grandma to die. I think he was angry at the church that told him that grandma got cancer because of a sin in his life. But that is neither here nor there. Several months ago, a retired missionary moved next door to my grandpa and this missionary began to take my grandpa hiking. I don't know what this guy talked about on those long walks on the mountain, but I do know that through their talks, my grandfather has turned back to God.