“You know, of the 10,080 minutes you have in a week, I sure am glad you spent 1/1,000 talking to me,” quipped my 87-year-old grandfather.
The fact that I called him was a complete fluke. He’s been on my mind for weeks. I’ve wanted to call for longer than that, but I was busy. You know, raising five kids, running my own graphic design business, blogging, doing laundry, changing diapers, running carpool, making dinner—busy.
I can blame my stroke of luck on a local Christian radio station that announces a different name each morning and then encourages people to call in and share something about that person. Well, yesterday, that name was Jack. On the way to school the kids said, “Mom, you should totally call and tell them about Great Papa.”
Not only did I call, but as I reflected upon my grandfather and his membership in the greatest generation, I found myself tearing up just a bit. I hung up the phone with the radio station and immediately dialed my grandfather. I could hear the surprise in his voice and picture his radiant smile. We chatted about errands, the kids, his great health, a fall trip to see him and how he’s finally starting to figure out Facebook. Yes, he’s 87 and has a Facebook account. Not only did he fly nearly three dozen missions as a tailgunner in WWII and lived to tell about it, but he logs onto social media every morning using his Kindle Fire. My goodness, I love that man.
As the conversation wound down (he and my great grandmother had a bridge game to get to), I heard the pause on the phone. He always does this. Just before we end our conversations, he leaves a parting thought, a “Jack-ism” I call them, for you to ponder. Today he reflected on time. How many minutes we have in a week and how remarkable it is that out of all those minutes, I took the time to call. “It made my day, honey,” he said, his voice cracking a bit.
“You know what I tell people? I’m happy to be alive today. It’s another day I get to live and today I got to talk to you,” he reflected.
I could feel the tear fall from my cheek. We shared “I love you’s” and we headed back to our days. Yes, today was great because my very wise, very amazing grandfather reminded me that busy is a state of mind. What are you doing with your 1/1,000th of a week?
