Follow the Fortune Cookie

Day 1 - Glory Days

"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" 
Day 1: Glory Days
We are now in the mid year of 2011.
Look back from the start of this year to present
and share your glory days.

         I have to say that this was a tough topic as the first six months of 2011 haven't been the best of years. There has been great upheavals of change since the beginning of the year. So, like with many other things in my life, I decided to get technical with it. The definition of glory is a thing that is beautiful or distinctive; a special cause for pride, respect, or delight. This immediately made me think of my grandfather.

         My grandfather passed in late May after months of sickness. He was a man of quiet strength and confidence. There was something about being around him that made everyone else at ease. He taught his family to strive for greatness and to never let anything get in the way of what you want most in life. Nothing is impossible.

         For his memorial and burial, I had the honor of collecting pictures and putting together a montage of his life. This was hours of scanning them into an semi-ancient computer, trying to enhance faded photos from the forties and fifties, and putting them together in chronicle hour. With each picture I found out more and more information about the man I thought I knew. The infectious smile of a young man named Henry. The time spent with his soon-to-be wife, Fran. Medical school and life in the army. Building the King/Drew medical school. Playing tennis. Time with his grandchildren. I got through those two weeks in my grandparents house because I got to spend time my grandfather through those pictures. It helped me mourn and remember him for who he was; a man I only knew as grandfather, but had lived a life that was so much more.

         Those were special days even though there was sadness. My family came together and pulled off something extraordinary. We mourned; we laughed. We remembered him the way he would have wanted to be remembered. Surrounded by family, we talked about our favorite moments with him. At times, it felt like he was there with us.

         A special cause for pride, respect, or delight - I definitely think those moments count for he was both beautiful and distinctive. Glory days, indeed.