Life is Good.

So I like to joke about my life being a soap opera or my life being a sitcom...thats because my life hasnt exactly been ideal or normal....then again I guess very few peoples lives really are. Sometimes I'm really frausterated with myself because I can see in my minds eye, exactly who I want to be..but then past events and certain people in my life make me put this wall up, because I'm scared, because Im hurt and because I hate to put myself in a vulnerable position. This last weekend I have been reflecting a little bit on Paul Ridge, suffieced to say, his life was defenatly not ideal or normal either, he was technically the second husband of my great aunt...but to me he was always grandpa. He hadnt exactly had an easy life, he had terrible hearing after coming back from the military, he had alot of personal trials in his life, but you would never know that!The most common phrase he said was, " life is good", and his life was, because he chose for it to be, no matter what was going on with him.  I dont have a single memory of him when he wasnt wearing a smile. I dont have a single memory with him that isnt good, you couldnt be around him and not smile, he carried a spirit of hope and optimism with him that is completely unfathemable. I think it would do me alot of good to be more like him, to smile more, to find joy in small things and to find sweet silver linings in all that happend. I hope that I can overcome the trials I face, with as much grace and hope as him, and I hope that when I leave this earth, people will remember me smiling and loving, the same way I remember my grandpa, and like him, I hope to find good in all people I encounter...no matter what they may do to me. Someday I hope that someone can blog about me, and that I can be remembered by even step-great-nieces as an example and a courages strong person.