This should once again confirm that the most important information in your life wouldn't come from a teacher, the library or the Internet, but from a mentor, and on a very personal level.

My long-passed grandfather's birthday is coming up, and for me it is a time to reminisce. The long walks we used to take. The long drives. The special trips he would make to pick me up so I could spend weekends with him, and the advice he used to give!  Much was wasted because I was young when he died. If he were alive today and sharing his gems of wisdom, I'd be a better man.

Those gems were well and good, but the one I remember most, the jewel in the crown of grandfatherly advice, came when he paused, looked me in the eye and said,

"Don't marry a woman with big hands. It makes your pecker look smaller."





Brings a tear to your eye doesn't it?

Quoted: "Don't marry a woman with big hands. It makes your pecker look smaller."

+1  

If your pecker is still bigger than her big hands, it means you're huge!!!!

Not from MY grandfather but from someones "In a 100 years and a good fire, no one will give a shit"

"A crowded hour of glory is worth a lifetime without a name."

Lt. Col. Travis in a speech to his son prior to departing for the Alamo.

I never knew either of my grandfathers. They both died before I was born.

Quoted: I never knew either of my grandfathers. They both died before I was born.

That sucks.  No sage wisdom passed down from them?

Quoted: Quoted: I never knew either of my grandfathers. They both died before I was born. That sucks.  No sage wisdom passed down from them?

Yes and no.

My Dad's father, Leo, was a great man by my standards. He came to America by himself at 17. He arrived here in 1909 on a ship from Italy. A young kid by himself leaving his family, his home and country to come here - alone.

His brother followed a year later. They came with almost NOTHING in their pocket, couldn't speak the language and even his surname was changed by immigration who couldn't read his writing and didn't speak Italian.

He died a year before I was born. I only have two pictures of him and a few stories. But the family tree he planted here in America has now grown to several hundred. Not a single bad apple in the entire bunch either.  

Four of his sons fought in WWII, two in Korea. Three of his grandsons fought in Viet Nam. More served without combat. His descendants include doctors, teachers, cops, autoworkers, city councilmen, firefighters, business-owners and many more hard-working Americans.

And me too.

So I've come to the realization (which was no surprise) that I, myself, won't be a "great" person in history; I'll never scale Everest, I won't discover a cure for cancer, I'll never go fight wars for my country, I'm not gonna be a millionaire, I won't become President or Governor and I may never even invent a better mousetrap.

But I do have a son.  

And I can only hope he (and I) are as successful at planting a family tree as my Grandfather was when he stepped off the boat by himself at Ellis Island 94 years ago.

I think of things like this when I see "Saving Private Ryan" - how one good person, though apparently insignificant, can have such profound significance in the grand scheme of things.

So yeah, he kind of did pass something of value on to me. His life.