Love Your Body: In memory of my grandpa

My grandpa died yesterday. He was 95 years old and, other than the last seven years, he lived life to its fullest. He survived Pearl Harbor and the stillbirth of a son. He retired three separate times because he just couldn't manage to rest on his laurels. He was a millionaire several times over and only ever invested in real estate because he didn't trust anything he couldn't touch and see. He ate health food and jogged way back in the '70s before it was cool. He learned how to set up an e-commerce website when he was 85 years old. He was my hero from the very earliest memory I have and I will miss him tremendously (although he's really been gone from us for the last five years).

Grandpa's death really started me thinking about my own life. I diddled away much of my life with insecurity and weakness of character and he loved me anyway. He always told me that I could do anything and that I was destined for greatness, but I never really believed him. While I'm not exactly full of self-confidence, at least I now have some, as well as some self-respect, and it makes me sad to know that he'll never know that I've finally found a good place. It's taken me 40 years to do it, but I think I've hit a sweet spot - however brief - where I can breathe and relax and be happy. Why couldn't I have done it sooner? Why did I make so many stupid decisions in the past? I don't have answers but I suspect that it has something to do with needing to go through the junk in order to appreciate what I have. I can only hope that my grandpa can see me now from Heaven, and that he's proud, too.

Rest well, Grandpa - I'll miss you always.