Everyone has a day that they can think of that changed their whole life, whether it be positive or negative. For some, it could be when someone was born or when they entered their life, for others it could be when someone left. January 26th, 2017 will forever be a day that will stay with me until I die. That whole weekend was so nerve wracking and will haunt me for a long time. That day was the day my grandfather died, it was also the day that I realized how short life was.
Many of us have dealt with death throughout our lives. The death of a family member or a pet or maybe even a plant perhaps. But, it's something that comes with living. Plus, its not something we think about constantly, so I think death is always a shock to some degree. And this day shook me to my core.
The day my grandfather died, and the days leading up to the funeral, impacted me more than I realized it would. Sure, a surprising amount of regrets surfaced to my brain when I heard the news, but it was more than that. I didn't expect the funeral to be large or long due to him being disowned by his family, but it was both of those. So many people showed up and they all had so much to say. They were all his friends, each one of them had been touched by him. He was a state policeman for Massachusetts and then worked in the Plymouth County Jail until he finally retired in July of 2016. His death made me realize just how much a smile and a "Hello" can impact someone. The people I met at his funeral told me that he always played pranks on his coworkers and was able to make everyone smile. So, even though I must admit that I'm definitely a pessimist, I too try to always make people smile and feel welcome.
I'm also the type of person that doesn't think about people positively talking about me, so I was very surprised to find out that my grandfather had bragged about me at work to people. This of course brought a smile to my lips and humbled me in a huge way. It made me want to do my absolute best in school and become the best person I could possibly be. And even though he had lived a full life - he had a son, grandchildren, and retired - I still feel like dying at the age of 64 is too young. I mean, he was only retired for 6 months. And even though he wasn't super healthy, he wasn't ill either. His sudden death made me realize that anyone could die at any moment, and that I should seize every chance that I get and try new things.
Every person has their faults and my grandfather was not a perfect man, but he taught me forgiveness, even after he died. Working with criminals required a lot of forgiveness and he had an unlimited supply. I say that he taught me forgiveness because I was mad that he died. I wasn't mad at him, but his doctors. He was on a lot of trial medicines, which caused his death. Plus, he had a history of blood clots, but that didn't stop the doctors. And because of that, a blood clot formed and went to his lungs. So, I was furious at the doctors and other medical staff for a few other reasons. But, once the funeral came and I got to talk to his friends about what he did at work, I realized that it wasn't the doctors' faults that he died from a blood clot. My grandfather knew it wasn't stable, but he chose these trial medicines to help people in the future who had the same problems as him. And even though I have tears in my eyes while I write this, I can't help but smile as well. Because even though his death shook my world, his life had more meaning than I could have ever understood before.
