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Thursday, December 6

My Great Ol' GranPa.

There a lot of things I want to write about today, but none of them can be discussed before the single most important thing that has happened this year be addressed. Three days ago, my grand dada passed away. He died at 84. They say ''everyone say good things about a person after he's gone". And I'd probably agree. But in this case, all the good that is being said about it, needs to be.

From what I've seen, he's led a spectacular life. At a pretty young age he dedicated his life to being a doctor and never once shied away from the pledge. The thing that struck me remarkable about him is that, everyone I talked to said the same thing - in all his years as a doctor, he never once charged one patient any fees. He took what they gave. And he thanked them all gracefully, even when their mode of payment were pumpkins. Literally. But that's still only the doctor.


He was a great guy too. The President of a hundred clubs and committees, he never once put his influence to ill use. Or let go of his humility. I was one of those, who would assume that once a person crossed 60, he was automatically senile going on retarded. This guy taught me otherwise, by example, of course. He blew me away with his intelligence and acumen, more times than I would care to count. But that was only one amongst a million other things I learned from his life. My point is...if I ever lived to see 80 (which I sincerely hope not, since my ideal age of death is preferably between 28 1/4 and 29 3/4)I'd want to live a life very much akin to his.

I had always harbored a grudge against him for having shown preferences amidst his grand-kids. But that was before I met him earlier this year. This old man with his extraordinary spirit totally grew on me. We made our peace. I'm glad we did, because that was the very last time we talked and shall remain so.

I hope he went to a better place. Because if any one deserves to, its him.