It is often amazing how we learn the lessons that we do. For me, I learned a great deal in my Grandparents’ little house in Aiken, Pennsylvania. The house itself is like many in northwestern PA. However, in the condensed inside along the aged wooden walls and floor it is truly a spectacle. Literally every inch of my grandparents’ house growing up was covered in images of three people: Elvis, John Wayne and Jesus. These three people are the best way I can describe my Grandmother, Donna Parry and my Grandfather, Dale who is also more affectionately known as Papa.
I can still see vividly in my mind my grandma sitting in her soft tan chair surrounded by a shrine of Elvis Presley memorabilia. My grandma Donna truly enjoyed few things more in this world than sitting in that chair watching either the Dallas Cowboys play or one of many John Wayne westerns. She loved just being there with my Grandpa and me. It was truly a happy place.
My Grandma would enjoy that happiness for years until the contracted pancreatic cancer and died in 2010. Still reflecting on it now, I think back on all the other things that made her happy. She loved the Presbyterian Church in Bradford, PA, and wherever she was if she didn’t already know everyone in the room, she would by the time she left. Most of all, my Grandmother loved simple things and she was very thankful for all the blessings she had. This is something I think we can all do a bit more: give thanks for all that we have been blessed with.
I would definitely consider myself a blessed man. I say this not because of any material advantages but because of the things I have learned. I have learned the power of family from my parents and grandparents. I have learned the value of brotherhood from my brothers at Theta Chi, I have learned the value of friendship at Westminster, and above all I have seen blessings in the faces of the people I meet every day.
Believe me when I say that it is sometimes beyond difficult to see just how many blessings there are for us. But as the Irish blessing goes, “may the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be always at your back, may the sun shine warm upon your face, may the rain fall soft upon your fields, and until we meet again may God hold you in the palm of his hand.”
I think this is the thing that we all must remember, we are blessed, we are loved, and we are here. There are difficult times ahead for sure, but in the end it is how we live our lives in the end that truly matters. As the prayer goes, "God, grand me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
