8 years ago today...

[Reverend_Smitty]

my grandfather passed away. He was a really special person to me so let me pay a little tribute to him...He was a son of immigrants who grew up in the depression, went to college thanks to the GI Bill and became a reporter and later the editor for his home town newspaper. Because of that job he was able to travel to Cuba right before the revolution and to Russia before the fall of communism, he became friends with mobsters and politicians and always had a good story to tell. Hell he was a writer up until the day he died, the morning he passed away he was working on a column.

He taught me the importance of being politically engaged, even at 12 or 13 he would try to bait me into political arguments. He also taught me that if I wanted something changed, I ought to go out and do it myself, no use in waiting around for others to do it for me. And while he had a tough exterior, he had a great heart.

Every day he would pick me up from school and groan disapprovingly when I changed the radio station to something a little more my style, but he would always let me do it. He was a pushover when I tried to convince him that I "needed" those baseball cards or to go out for ice cream just because it was a Wednesday. We would have dinner together every night and have great conversations about movies or sports or anything...it was great.

It wasn't just me that his generosity touched. He let an old friend who was homeless for the last 20 or so years of his life have a place to stay and a hot meal to eat every night. I once asked my grandfather why he let Bob stay at our house every night, and his response was "The man is down on his luck and I'm able to help...it's just the right thing to do".

It's the little things like what I described about him were what made him a great person. I was just kind of missing him today so I figure I'd bend your ear a bit about a person who has made a significant impact on my life.

I miss you pop-pop!