Four

My biggest inspiration taught me the power of four

At the time I didn't know I was learning

I thought I was just growing up

At four years old I had my third ear surgery

I woke up screaming and crying for him

When he came into the room,

He held me and told me there wouldn't be a fourth

And there wasn't

In that moment, all I knew was that I was loved

I knew nothing could hurt me

He was there

Later that same year, when the Widow Maker came calling for him,

I learned what grit was

Some called it a miracle he lived

But insurmountable odds were no match for him

I knew it was because of his grit

Love and Grit: my first two gifts

He taught me my first four-letter words

He said, “If you’re using a four-letter word, you’ve got to use it right!

Use them with conviction and shout them with passion:

If you must take, give a piece of yourself

Being poor does not mean your life is not rich

Life will bring you pain, it’s your job to search for the hope

If you have to hate, hate the time wasted not in love”

Then, I found a new four-letter word: keep

I will keep each gift I take from him so I can give a new piece of myself

My four-letter gifts motivate me everyday

However, they are just a state of mind

How you use them, that’s how people see you

Four-letter words: my third gift

He lived as poor as a church mouse

Want was not a luxury he could afford

But he was rich everywhere it counted

He taught me that family could get you through anything

Work ethic and devotion are non-negotiable

Do things with passion or not at all

And never go down without a fight

In the end, before cancer took him

We begged him to fight until their Golden Anniversary

And, as usual, he gave everything

He gave Grandma not only 50 years together

But 50 years and four days

The will to fight: my fourth gift

My Grandpa was my biggest inspiration

His death shook me

Some days to my core

I couldn’t imagine the world losing so much goodness

Daily I see reminders of him

Reminders give me hope that his gifts endure

The body may go, but the spirit never dies

I want to be a Nurse

I want to do for people what my grandpa did for me

I know I’ll be tested: mentally, physically, and spiritually

But that’s okay

I have love

I have grit

I have four-letter words

And I have the will to fight