My grandfather was always very kind to me. I knew him as a funny and loving person. He would encourage me at all of my football games growing up, and treat me whenever he could. He used to send me chain emails of jokes, poems and pictures. Friends of mine knew him as the grandpa that sent the good emails.
How my Grandpa is remembered
I drove 4 1/2 hours to North Bay with my Uncle Sean on Monday. On the trip I got to hear tons of stories of my Grandpa. How he is remembered among his family, friends, and acquaintances; who he’s influenced over the years; who his father and mother were. There was a lot I didn't know about the man I called Grampa.
I heard a story about him bringing a pocket full of garter snakes to school in middle school. How he totalled his dads car when he was 15 years old. How he used to call his mother pretending to be the priest of her church. How he was a great public speaker. He would get asked without notice to speak at an event, because people enjoyed hearing what he had to say. One time he was asked to come over to someone’s house to mediate and stop a divorce. He went and that couple stayed together for another 5 years.
How to be memorable
I put together a small list of five items we can all learn from my grampa. I think these 5 things were important to my grampas career success, his social success and his lasting reputation.
Be a gentleman
People remember those who are kind to them.
Help others
People remember those who have helped them.
Be a great communicator
People remember those who have had great conversations with them.
Break the rules
People remember stories.
Work hard
People are born with softer or harder hearts than others. People are born with parents who don't volunteer or help others. People are born with bad and good communication skills. However you're born, you can improve yourself. My grampa wasn't born a gentleman, he worked at it. My grampa wasn't born a great communicator. He might have been a good communicator, but he worked to become a great communicator. He took Dale Carnegie courses. He invited friends over often. He was in constant contact with his customers. He built relationships everywhere he went. He put effort into improving himself.
I love my grampa, and I want to be remembered like him.