Sitting quietly at the table as a child among adults, I listen. I listen to their stories of my grandparents when they were younger and the mischief they got into and quietly giggle and compare my own mischievous events to theirs. I watch as the stories bring a smile back to their withering and wrinkled faces and I know the idea of their younger days rejuvenates them for the small time the memory dances among their minds.

Swiftly I catch a glance of my grandfather. I know he’s in pain. It hurts me to sit across the table from him and wish there was something I could do to take the pain away from him. A new kidney for Christmas, I thought. Yet as I wonder how he manages to even sit at the dinner table, I notice the biggest smile on his face. That image of him, throughout all the hardship he has been through, sitting there and smiling is what will warm my heart for years to come. The strength of this 77 year old man whose experienced the world and cherishes life to the fullest is extraordinary. Laughing with the occasional cough in between I know that what keeps him going day to day is the love for his family. He never asks for much, maybe a ginger ale on our Sunday dinners but other than that he is just a happy, easy going man who wants nothing more than to see the people around him happy.

Gee, I thought. I could be worrying about my grades, my relationship, the college I’m getting into, if I’m going to miss my favorite show, what we’re having for dinner, or who I’m eating lunch with tomorrow and waste my days away in constant worry. Yet when I look at my grandfather all I see is that he is thankful to still sit with us and talk about old memories. He knows he isn’t healthy but that doesn’t wipe the smile off of his face and it sure as hell doesn’t take away from his charming and comedic attitude. I envy his constant happiness and I know that when I imagine life as being “too hard,” I can always think back to his grateful and happy face laughing at the dinner table as I sit quietly admiring his constant positive attitude.