My grandad, a man who I love very much, is having heart surgery today. Freshly eighty, this man is going under the knife to try and extend his life a few more years to be with his wife. As you can imagine, this is really quite confronting and overwhelming for our family. It is a really tense time and we are worried for his recovery and any reactions during the surgery.
To deal with the anxiety that I am personally dealing with, as his only granddaughter, I’m going to tell you a little story about what I know about this man.
This man has survived more than the average person. His dad died when he was a toddler, his mum abandoned him and his six siblings not long afterwards, and his older sister was left to raise the rest of them. When he was five, he got polio. He now has a fake leg as the polio was left for too long to ever recover from.
After years of poverty and being unable to go to school, my grandad met my grandma and his life changed forever. After three months, the two of them picked up their entire lives and decided to move from New South Wales to Western Australia. Their car was very average and barely got them to their destination. As soon as they arrived, they got a car service. Midland, the suburb they would call home for the rest of their lives, was their destination of choice to seek out a trusted mechanic that they would use for the long term.
Last year when they needed a brakes repair for their car, they went to the mechanic that they have been going to for thirty years. Something I really admire about my grandparents is that they are fiercely loyal. They are loyal to their mechanic, their family, to me. I will be loyal to them forever, and I pray that all my grandad’s years of being a genuinely good person work in his favour today.
I love you grandad. Good luck.