X is for Xercise and Y is for Yay! Yay! Yay!

PT’s 91 Years of Wisdom

This year, I had a terrible time trying to figure out what my A-Z theme would be.  I finally decided that this year, I would honor my beloved 91 year old grandfather, Paul Titus, or PT as his friends called him, who passed away on February 8th.  He lived a wonderfully full life and was always trying to challenge my brothers and me to think out of the box.  So for this challenge I thought I would share little bits of his wisdom that he tried to bestow upon us.  

But I also want to highlight the wonderful bloggers in this community who have published their books.  So everyday, I will give a quick  shout out to those works with titles beginning with the letter of the day.  

X is for Xercise

Gramps never believed in exercise.  Not the way we normally think of exercise anyway, like jogging, P90X,  Zoomba, Spinning, Yoga and weight training.  His exercise was in the work he did, carrying heavy blocks and boards at construction sites, chopping firewood, raking leaves, and mowing grass.  Most of his leisure time was spent active as well.  He loved biking the 5 miles around the lake, ice skating outdoors in the winter, and he enjoyed slalom water skiing until he was seventy. Most of all, he loved chasing and wrestling his grandchildren and great grandchildren.  With all that going on, who needed exercise?

Gramps at his cottage with great friends. Yay Yay Ya!

Yay! Yay! Yay!

Whenever anything unexpectedly good happened, Gramps would exclaim, “Yay! Yay! Yay!”  It could be something as small as kids jumping into his lap, some old friends or relatives stopping in for a surprise visit or as big as taking his grandkids to Florida.  Whatever the occasion, he was thankful for it.  

In his last months, he told me that his mother used to say, “Always be thankful for the little things, because the big things may not happen.”  Throughout his life he had lived by that statement.  He always felt blessed for the wonderful people and events that touched his life, and there were so many.

“How lucky can a guy be?” he would say when reflecting on the special people in his life.  

Three people whom he always said this about was my husband, Jesse,  and my mother and father-in-law, Reiko and Dave.  Twenty years ago they came into his life and brought him so much joy.  Gramps loved my husband as if he were his fourth grandchild and he took my in-laws in as if they had always been a part of our family.  He cherished sitting with them on his deck at the cottage, gazing out over the water and talking for hours on everything from bird watching to politics.   They became so close that four years ago we had all planned a family vacation to Reiko’s native Japan.  My parents and Gramps were going to join us.  Gramps wanted to see the temples and visit Reiko’s brother, Eiichi,  whom he’d met years ago at our wedding.  

Unfortunately, we were never able to make it there with him.  But two years ago, Reiko’s brother came to Michigan to visit him.  Gramps showed him so much kindness that on his last day, Eiichi teared up saying how he now understood the true meaning of family and was thankful his sister was part of it.

Those are only some of the people Gramps felt so thankful to have in his life. I was blessed having Gramps in my life for as long as I did. How lucky can a girl be?  

Gramps taking everyone for a boat ride

*****

Now for the "Y" shout outs! (Couldn't find any for "X")

Laura Bambrey

Hope everyone has a great day and that you're able to say "Yay! Yay! Yay!" to something today! I can't believe tomorrow is the last day already! Thanks so much for all the great comments and support. Make sure to check everyone else out here.

Kathy :)