The greatest man I have ever met happens to be my Grandpa.
Anyone who has met my Papa knows that his smile can light up a whole room and his genuine love for anyone he meets is inspiring. From a young age, he has taught me many lessons indirectly on how to be a great individual.
My Papa has been married to my beautiful Baki (grandma), for 58 years in September. Their love is beautiful and their respect for one another and good hearts have made them able to cultivate the love they have for each other.
He has truly shown me how I should be treated by a man, with the love he has with my Baki.
He has shown me that respect, support, and unconditional love are needed in a lifelong commitment.
Positivity is something that my Grandfather does not fall short on. Even when I saw him in a hospital bed holding my mothers hand in pain he managed to smile. I think there was something to learn from that and that is that even in our worst times we can find an opportunity to be grateful for something.
My Papa has lived a beautiful life but there have been some hardships along the way.
Over a year ago I sat in my Grandparents kitchen In one of the countless long conversations I enjoy having with them. This conversation was different though. The story rooted in pain and that being the loss of their child. I learned, that my grandparents had lost a child, one of the hardest things any individual could possibly go through. It's not the hardship that changed my view on life its the way they overcame it, that is so beautiful.
My Uncle Paul was only around 3 months old when he passed away. My papa has disclosed to me that this felt like one of the lowest points he felt within his life. When asking him how he was ever able to be okay after that happened he told me that when Uncle Paul passed away he now saw that he had an angel in Heaven. That even though Uncle Paul is no longer with us he is in spirit.
He saw that having children was a blessing from God and that everything happens for a reason.
Those words and underlying meanings changed my perspective on the world we live in.
Even if you do not believe in a higher power. There is still something beautiful in the ability to turn something that is so devastating into a greater meaning and positive outlook.
Hearing that story has given me the lesson of faith not exactly pertaining to God himself, but the faith I have in humankind and the process of happiness. My Papa has used his faith to help guide him into the kind individual he is today. He has raised a beautiful family and from that has 12 grandchildren.
He has left a mark on all of us.
We can all learn a thing or two from our grandparents and their experiences in life. But I feel very fortunate to have the greatest man I have ever met as my Papa.