Following a Hope

Left to right: me, my grandfather, my brother.

On a Sunday afternoon, three weeks before I was to have open heart surgery, my family and I sat around my grandfather’s dinner table. Amidst busy conversations weaving back and forth across the table my grandfather, sitting next to me, nudge my arm to get my attention. He leaned in towards me and indicated that I should hold out my hand. Confused but obedient, I stuck out my hand, curious to see what he was going to do. With a smile on his face he pulled his truck keys out of his pocket and dropped them into my hand. I clutched the keys in my hand awaiting instructions from my grandpa to go get something out of his truck, but to my surprise this is not what occurred. My grandfather leaned in and said, “here is something to look forward to after your heart surgery.”

At the time, I did not have the words to describe what this did for me as a 16 year old preparing for heart surgery. As I have ponder this experience, the way I think about overcoming challenges has changed. My grandfather acted on a hope that I would successfully come out of heart surgery. He went forward with a hope that my surgery would be successful; the fear of a negative outcome had no effect on his actions.

I learned from my grandfather that I need to conduct my life by following a hope. A hope that good things will happen and great opportunities will emerge. There will always be a chance that outcomes won’t be what I want, but if things do go the way I want, by following a hope i’ll be ready.