Grandfather for One More Day,

¶ … grandfather for one more day, the first thing I would do would be to cook him a huge breakfast. He always liked to eat, and often complained about his wife's (my grandmother's) cooking -- god naturedly, of course. He died when I was fairly young, so over breakfast I would ask him all the questions about is history that I was never able to, in an attempt to understand him in a way that my child's mind couldn't while he was alive.

In his novel, for One More Day, Mitch Albom says, "Parents slot into postures in a child's mind" (Albom, 20). The same is true of grandparents, and everyone else, really, for me, my grandfather occupied a slot of ancient and almost inapproachable wisdom. He was not mean, but he was not especially good with children, and I think that we could have a much more meaningful conversation now that I'm older.

Albom also makes another profound observation in his book: "your mother and father pass through you to your children, like it or not" (Albom, 87). This is also true of my grandfather. He wasn't good with kids when my father was growing up, either, and I think I have some idea of what it was like growing up with my grandfather after I grew up with my dad.

This is one of the most important tings I would talk to my grandfather about in our one more day -- what my father was like, and why he made the choices he did, and how he became the person and father that he is. Understanding my grandfather would help me to understand my father, too. More than anything else, I would spend my one day with.