You Run and You Run to Catch Up with the Sun, But it’s Sinking

My grandfather passed away Monday. My mother called me early yesterday morning to let me know. Although the call was unexpected, the news wasn't. His health had been failing for a while now, and with my grandmother passing almost a year ago, we knew he would be following soon. He began having stomach complications on Friday and my uncle checked him into a hospital. He made it through the surgery, but not the recovery. His heart failed yesterday.

This is all weird to me because I just spoke with him a few weeks ago on his birthday. We talked about my girls and xmas and how he was doing, etc. He seemed very upbeat, though he admitted he was still feeling very lonely at night. Perhaps the holidays and the anniversary of my grandmother's death were just too much for him. I know he was ready to go. He let us know on several occasions. He even had a "do not resuscitate" order, which was violated twice before they finally let him have his peace. He was my last grandparent to go.

Each xmas my family bakes huge batches of sweet rolls. My mom even freezes them and mails them out to us in Colorado. We've been doing this as long as I can remember. I always thought it was because they are super yummy, but later on I found out that there is a history behind this tradition. During the Great Depression, my great-grandfather deserted my grandmother's mother and her five children. The only thing that my great-grandmother knew how to do to support the family was bake. So, she would bake goods and my grandma and her sisters would go door-to-door selling them in baskets. They lost everything, but the family survived. Instead of dwelling on such a dark period in her life, my grandmother instead turned this into a joyful symbol of perseverance. Each holiday season, we eat the rolls to remind us of our blessings. This year I am going to make them with the girls.

My grandfather's family also lost everything in the Great Depression. Being a little bit older than my grandmother, he went to work for the Civilian Conservation Corps, a works progress program initiated by the Roosevelt administration to relieve unemployed laborers. He told my grandmother that he wouldn't marry her until he earned enough money to buy back her family's farm. He eventually did buy back that farm and the two were married. They lived on their own farm in the Ohio valley and raised three children: my aunt, my mother, and my uncle. My grandfather was a rural postal worker who walked his own country route sometimes with miles between mailboxes. My grandmother initially worked for the phone company as a switchboard operator and later in life became very involved in local politics. That amazing lady had a whole list of accomplishments under her belt, with most of them starting out "First Woman to..."

My grandparents witnessed the Great Depression, five wars, the Cold War, various economic and oil crises and unprecedented social change in the world. They survived their respective cancers, strokes and heart attacks. They lost a daughter when my aunt died in a car accident 15 years ago. Life was hard, but they persevered and both lived very long lives.

However, for all of this perseverance, they were both eventually worn down by the mercilessness of time. Is there no bigger enemy than time itself? Regardless of who we are or what we've accomplished, we all must succumb to the inevitability of its passing. I have accomplished a lot in life, but I have a far ways to go before I could even begin to compare myself to either of those two individuals. I have a tradition to maintain, and I don't mean just baking sweet rolls each xmas. I must persevere and, in their honor, continue to live my life to the fullest despite the hardships that life may bring. They came from nothing and gave us everything. I must not squander that opportunity. It is the greatest gift they ever gave me.

So, I may be spending Thanksgiving weekend in Ohio this year, depending on whether or not I can get on a flight last minute on the busiest traveling holiday of the year. As you US readers gather around with your families this Thanksgiving, please take a moment to cut through all of the annoying relatives, badly cooked dishes and the Kansas City Chiefs losing horribly to the Denver Broncos and appreciate the matriarchs and patriarchs of your respective clans. We all have stories of hardship to tell, and I'm sure they'd be happy to know that their own perseverance has not gone unnoticed.