Walking in Grandpa’s Boots

by Joe
I discovered something fun that I share with my grandpa, we are the same shoe size.  A couple years ago grandma asked if I wanted an old pair of his work boots.  My dear sweet grandma, just asked as if this was a normal question.  A lesson she learned from life to not let anything go to waste.  So, curiously I tried them on, and they fit!  A shock, as I felt the comfort of a good fitting broken-in boot.  I laced them the rest of the way, and put on the other.  Strolled around the family room, and sat back down to soak in the moment.

They fit.  Wow, am I grown up?  As a kid, I loved adventures with grandpa.  He is so cool.  He restored a 1915 model T to mint condition.  Before that made two single man airplanes, in his basement.  Is truly a master woodcarver, and painter.  This is just the short list.  He is a true renaissance man.

Sitting there with his boots on, this question continued to ask for reflection.  “Am I all grown up?”  “yes...”, was the whisper I heard in my heart.  Yet, I’ve got a long life to live, and many miles to walk before I catch up to grandpa’s wisdom.

Grandpa’s philosophies are short and simple.  Flowery extra words are like having parsley next to a steak.  I enjoy the simplicity of his wisdom.

When I called him last autumn to tell him the heartbreaking news about Luke, he had a little philosophy for me.  He told me about Kenneth Doyle, my uncle.  Up until that moment, I only had the faintest of memory about a story I heard as a kid.  A story never talked about, and name never said.  In all honesty I had forgotten this story.  Grandpa and grandma’s first son was born stillborn a week before his due date.  The question of, why, has never been answered.  Of course, in those days they didn’t have fancy cameras looking into the womb.  So, this was a crushing shock for them. 

Months filled with sorrow, sadness, longing and hurt.  The doctor’s advice in those days was to store stories like these in a dusty vault and never talk about them.  This explains why even my mom didn’t know her older brother’s name.  All focus was turned to listening as grandpa told me this story.  Trying to imagine what lay ahead for Sarah and I, I asked questions, sought wisdom, and longed for a picture of the journey ahead from my grandpa who had walked this difficult path before me.  The 1st and foremost question, I had was, “How did you care for grandma?”  Within their story I heard 3 truths of wisdom.

1. Take it one day at a time
2. Pray for her
3. Take good care of her

I was encouraged by this wisdom, short and simple.  Plus, I was already doing each of them, daily.  An affirmation that we will make it through this hard hard season, and keep walking, together.  When I talked with grandpa today, I told him that I still think about these 3 wisdoms.

His shoes do fit.  With each step I learn more from the man who wore them.