(no subject)
Lately I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I'm supposed to be doing with my life, and I often think about my grandfather, who passed away on August 29, 2004. I miss him more and more every day, and he will never be forgotten by me. I spend every day trying to make him proud of me. He fought cancer in three different parts of his body for 2 years, when he was only supposed to live for another 2 weeks. He fought to live because he wanted to see me graduate. He never got that chance, but before he closed his eyes for the last time, he took my hand and told me that he was proud of the person that I was becoming. He also told me a story from when he played sports in high school, and I can't help but think that I was meant to hear, and live out, that story.
Before the 2004 soccer season started, the team picked their jersey numbers out. I had always been #8, but that year I got stuck with #14. I was disappointed that I didn't get the number I wanted, and I was telling my grandpa about it a few days before he passed. He didn't say anything about it until his last moments with us, but when he knew that his time with us was coming to an end, he told me the story about how he got stuck with the number 14 when he was a senior in high school. He hated having that number, but like me, he had the best season of his entire career that year. It's almost like I was meant to repeat that story, to give my grandfather and I something that no one else had. I was meant to wear that number 14, and I wore it proudly that season. That season I learned what it's like to work hard for what you care about. I think that's what he wanted me to see.....that you have to work hard with what you're given. Neither he nor I wanted the number 14, but we took it and did our best. That season was by far the greatest season of soccer that I've ever played. I played the best soccer of my life, and I've never had more fun than I did during the fall of '04. You could say that I finally lived up to my potential as a soccer player, but I know it was because my grandfather was watching out for me. I wasn't blessed with talent; I was blessed with people that believed in me. People like my family, Colin, Ashley T, Alex, Liz, Emily, Dizzle, Flynn. Thank you.
I miss you, Papa.....we'll meet again, I promise. There are so many things I want to talk to you about, like what I'm doing with my life, and there are so many questions I want to ask you, but the time for that is not now, and until that time, I hope what I do makes you proud. R.I.P......
Before the 2004 soccer season started, the team picked their jersey numbers out. I had always been #8, but that year I got stuck with #14. I was disappointed that I didn't get the number I wanted, and I was telling my grandpa about it a few days before he passed. He didn't say anything about it until his last moments with us, but when he knew that his time with us was coming to an end, he told me the story about how he got stuck with the number 14 when he was a senior in high school. He hated having that number, but like me, he had the best season of his entire career that year. It's almost like I was meant to repeat that story, to give my grandfather and I something that no one else had. I was meant to wear that number 14, and I wore it proudly that season. That season I learned what it's like to work hard for what you care about. I think that's what he wanted me to see.....that you have to work hard with what you're given. Neither he nor I wanted the number 14, but we took it and did our best. That season was by far the greatest season of soccer that I've ever played. I played the best soccer of my life, and I've never had more fun than I did during the fall of '04. You could say that I finally lived up to my potential as a soccer player, but I know it was because my grandfather was watching out for me. I wasn't blessed with talent; I was blessed with people that believed in me. People like my family, Colin, Ashley T, Alex, Liz, Emily, Dizzle, Flynn. Thank you.
I miss you, Papa.....we'll meet again, I promise. There are so many things I want to talk to you about, like what I'm doing with my life, and there are so many questions I want to ask you, but the time for that is not now, and until that time, I hope what I do makes you proud. R.I.P......