College of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
March 4, 2011
So, one of the things that we talked about today during our role model presentations was about the importance of letting our role models know that they had such an impact on our lives. We were asked to write a letter to them. Since my grandpa has passed away, and I can no longer thank him directly, I felt the need to at least write him a letter. So, here goes…
Dear Grandpa John,
I just wanted to thank you for being such a prominent figure in my life. I look up to you and all that you accomplished in your lifetime, and I hope that I can be at least half the person you were throughout your life. They just don’t seem to make people the way they used to anymore. Your intelligence, hard work, sense of compassion, positivity, and ability to make everything special has influenced me in ways that you can never know. A U.S. marine fighting in WWII, to a coal-miner, to a successful employee of Ford, recognized by Henry Ford himself. You are amazing and so accomplished. This is history, you helped shape history, and I was lucky enough to learn it from you.
Also, you are the most compassionate person I have ever known, and will probably ever meet. Sixty-four years of marriage before grandma passed away. That is amazing! You guys had true love, and that is a rare quality to come by. So devoted to each other, even when you were struggling with your own sight, you took care of her, watched her and stood by her 24/7 so that she could be comfortable and safe in her own home, rather than pushed aside into the care of strangers. Your patience for her when no one else knew what she wanted, your ever growing devotion even as she sometimes forgot who you were. It takes such a strong person to help care for someone with that disease, that horrible Alzheimer’s disease. And you did it until her last day with us, and I don’t think that you realize how much that must have meant to her. Your relationship, the true love you experienced until the end, and the devotion you guys felt for each other is an inspiration for me, and I hope that Bobby and I will be the same way.
Finally, thank you for being so positive and making everything special. Everyone who met you could talk to you for hours. You were so outgoing and found your own special activity or niche with every one you encountered. Your positivity and sens of tradition made every occasion a joy and I hope to make you proud by keeping your traditions going. Your positivity, in tact even after you witnessed the love of your life taken slowly by her disease, was immense and admirable. Instead of isolating yourself and seeking pity when she was gone, you came out with the family and never had a bad thing to say about anyone.
You were an amazing man. They do not make men like you anymore. My life has been changed because I knew you so well. There is so much more that I wish I could have learned from you that time did not allow, but your memories, your stories, and your integrity will remain a part of me, and everyone else that you touched in your lifetime. You were something special, and I truly feel that with you a part of me was lost, but I will work to live to uphold your honor and pass on your values to others in order to make sure that you live on.
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