Memorial Day was first established after the Civil War to remember our fallen soldiers. Many people fail to remember this during the three day weekend and merely use the time to party, go camping, and grill meat.
While our family always takes some time to think about the men and women who have given their lives for our country, we also think back at this time of year to Michelle’s dad, Mike Granowski, who passed away May 31, 2001.
Michelle was pregnant with Jayna at the time, and so our kids never got to meet their maternal grandfather. I only knew him for less than five years, but Mike made a great impact on my life.
There are so many stereotypical exaggerations about how terrible in-laws are, but Mike and his wife Mary were always nothing but wonderful to me, the man who dared to fall in love with their daughter. Somehow, I always found Mike intimidating, even though he never took me on a tour of his gun collection or some other threatening procedure.
Maybe all young men should find their girlfriend/wife’s father intimidating, at least out of respect. Brad Paisley sings the song, “Two People Fell in Love,” about how we have so much to be thankful for because our parents and the parents of those closest to us fell in love. This is so true, and we don’t always think about that until we lose one of those people who initially fell in love.
Mike was always so generous with everyone. He worked with cars all his life and finished as a car salesman. There too, he didn’t fit the negative stereotype we sometimes have of that occupation. I had only been dating Michelle about four months when I was looking for a used car. He pointed me in the direction of a Grand Prix he had and then opened his books to show me just how much he had paid for it. I only had to give him an extra $200 and it was mine. That car served us well for many years.
Mike would help anybody who needed it or asked for it any time. When he was struck with cancer, he found that reciprocated with all the people who helped him and the family during that trying period. We knew earlier in 2001 that his condition was terminal, and the great help given by so many made those last couple of months easier to bear. I firmly believe this is because of all the good Mike had done throughout his life.
His sense of humor was one of his great qualities. Mike always had a joke or a prank, and I can’t remember many times I saw him without a smile. Even during his last months on earth, he was smiling. That must be the hardest thing to do: you know your death is imminent, but you maintain a positive attitude.
It’s been twelve years, but it doesn’t get any easier. Michelle takes a lot of time to talk to Jayna and Anton about Grandpa Mike and to show them pictures so they can “know” him. In fact, a teddy bear that was his still lingers around our house.
s we paused this past Monday to remember fallen soldiers, I can’t help but think that Mike was visiting in Heaven with some of his compatriots from the Vietnam War, a conflict in which he served his country well.
Mary has remarried, and her husband has been a great grandpa to the kids. We’re thankful for this; it means that our kids have two grandpas on Michelle’s side.
Word of the Week: This week’s word is logolepsy, which means an obsession with words, as in, “The readers wondered if the columnist’s logolepsy would ever run dry or if he would always have some new obscure word for them every week.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!