The Grey Knit Vest

When I was little, the sun rose & set on my Grandpapa. Frozen forever in time are memories of wire rimmed glasses and a grey knit vest that almost always had chocolate covered raisins in the left pocket. Grandpapa always read to me. I'd curl up beside him and listen, spellbound.

When Grandpapa got old & couldn't see well enough to read anymore, I read to him. Agatha Christie. I'd read until his eyes
closed and his head started to nod.

As I quietly got up, Grandpapa would reach into the pocket of his grey knit vest and pull out a box of chocolate covered raisins, pressing them into my teen-aged hand. Eyes still closed, he would whisper "I remembered".

Grandpapa always said things like; "You scratch my back an' I'll scratch yours," and "Share, little one. Sharing makes everything better." Somehow, everything always was better.

I'll never forget the call from the hospital. Grandpapa had suffered a massive stroke. Mom sobbing. Heartwrenching sobs. It
was snowing that night. Great big fluffy snowflakes falling through the glow of the streetlight.

It's snowing this morning. Inevitable as the hands of time, big fluffy snowflakes fall through the glow of the streetlight. I sit
and watch the snowflakes fall, walking down memory lane with a lump in my throat and a cup of coffee in my hands.

In the words of Ralph Waldo Emmerson, "I used to always think that I'd look back on us crying and laugh, but I never thought
I'd look back on us laughing - and cry."

How wise the words, "Sharing makes everything better." The need to reach out to another human being is instinctive, and as
necessary as the air that we breathe.

It is my sincere hope that sharing this story with you will inspire you to share something of yourself. A kind word to a
stranger perhaps, or a compliment to someone that deserves one. It is these small acts of sharing, and caring, that make this
world a better place.

As the sun rises on a new day, I leave you with this thought;

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life that no man can sincerely try to help another without also helping himself.
(Ralph Waldo Emerson; 1803-1882)