After having a wonderful Christmas, opening all my gifts and giving mine to others, then celebrating the New Year with my family and girlfriend, my grandfather passed away on January 3rd, 2017. Dr. Douglas W. Muir was there for me as soon as I was born. I only knew him as "grandpa". I knew him the last 20 years of his life, not really knowing him and how he was before my lifetime.
He had accomplished so much and had so much success before I was even conceived. My grandmother and my dad told me all kinds of stories about my grandfather, although he was never able minded enough to truly tell his stories to me. He suffered from Parkinson's disease the last couple years and it only got worse for him as the days went by. After he fell in his house, fracturing his hip, he was bed ridden the rest of his life, with his family always making time to see him. My last memories of him consist of being at a hospital with him barely being able to talk. I also remember always going to the beach with him down in Avalon, New Jersey.
Attending his viewing (we had him cremated) opened my eyes to what kind of man he really was. Looking at the pictures dated back to the 1930s and 1940s, I saw a man who I never really knew, a man who I never really had a chance to meet. He was the first relative of mine to pass away and I had my first taste of what death feels like. While I was at the viewing greeting everyone who knew him, I came to the realization that he had such an impact on people's lives. He was a podiatrist and most of his patients of were still alive attended the viewing, so I met some really interesting people I never knew. It is because of my grandfather that I had this opportunity to meet all these people. After his passing, I now understood what I missed out on, and I became very jealous of those who really knew him. But life goes on, and it made me understand how important it is to make a footprint in your life in a way that people remember you when you aren't there.
Thank you, Grandpa, for having such an impact on my life and so many others.
