I was blessed to know both my grandfathers. Although he did not live to be as old as my father’s father, my mother’s father probably had more impact on the man I am still becoming, than any other male figure. He had every single trait I long to possess. I have often said that his life represented the life of Jesus with more accuracy than anyone I have ever met since. I will talk about him more in a future post, but I am thinking this morning about my grandfather on my father’s side. Albert.

Albert was the witty one. He was simple, living modestly in a double-wide most of my life with a two acre garden. Most everything he and my step-grandmother ate came from there. For his 90th birthday, I remember my dad and his siblings putting together money to buy him a plow. He had expressed his need for one, saying that it was too hard to plow with his worn out one. The fact is, it would be too hard probably for me to plow now, in my early 50s! I remember my dad saying “any man that is turning 90 and needs a new plow, ought to have one!”

I was there when Daddy Halford, as I had always called him, had his 99th birthday. His health wasn’t what it once was to be certain, but his mind and his wit were still strong. We talked about all the puzzles and handmade brain teasers he had crafted. We talked about gardening and I asked him a simple question:

“What is the secret to living to be 99 years old?”

In the way only he could, he crafted his tease carefully, baiting me with “are you sure you want to know the answer? I can tell you if you really want to know. I leaned in closer for his morsel of wisdom. He first told me that his regrets were more of things he had not done than things he had. My father was a pilot but fear had kept my grandfather from ever going up in an airplane. He mentioned that. Then he whispered again, “do you want me to tell you how to live to see 99?”

I said yes.

Although his answer seemed like a punchline at the time, the older I become, the wiser it is. A twinkle came in his aging eyes when he replied: “If you really want to live to see 99, then you must not die.” It brings a smile to my face thinking about what he knew when he said that. He knew that a person must continue to do the things the living do. He didn’t say it. But I have since given meaning to those words. Keep dreaming. Learn to love more. Learn to be loved more. Cherish your family. Hug longer. Read the Bible daily. Find out what counts and never stop doing it. Be grateful.

As always, I am grateful for you and your comments. Also, sharing my blog with others is a good way to add people you care about to the ‘loop’. I pray over the people who subscribe to the blog and ask you to return the favor. The subscribe button is at the top right of the page, and there are a couple of places where you can click to share. May God bless you and your family today… and keep living every day you are blessed with life.