The Family Name You Bear

When I look at my son I can’t help but think of everything I want for him. I want only the best things for him. I want him to have every opportunity that I had and those I never did, every possible chance for success and happiness, abundant love, and the sweetest joy.  I want him to grow into a good man. By “good” I mean the type of man that anyone who knows him can’t find anything else to say except that he is a “good” man. That is why we gave him the middle name of Glen.

I had the great fortune of growing up next door to my grandparents. They were there everyday of my life growing up and they helped raise my siblings and I right along with my parents. My grandpa was a “good” man. Everyone in my hometown that knew him can attest to that. Grandpa was always there when you needed him and had a way of bringing out the best in people. He was a man of quiet wisdom and gentle strength.  He didn’t normally say much, but when he did you listened.  It was only Grandpa that could convince me to go to school at BYU-Idaho and it was Grandpa that asked me what I was waiting for when Jason wanted to marry me. Wise man. Good man.

Grandpa was always working. Always. He pulled weeds right along side us and then usually went back to pull the weeds we missed. He could and did fix anything and everything. He loved popsicles and homemade ice cream and Grandpa grew the best watermelons in the entire valley. He loved to scare us when we went to lock up the chickens at night and he always had a stack of the red wrapped firecrackers on his dresser to use when he saw an opportunity arise. Good man. Funny man. He taught me how to do a flip on the trampoline and loved a good game of chicken foot dominoes (teasing Grandma relentlessly the entire time). I could write forever about Grandpa and the memories I have of him, but I’ll sum it up by saying….Grandpa was a hero. 

I miss my Grandpa. I think of him everyday and it still hurts just as bad today as it did the day he left us. Thankfully I know that we will see him again and that makes me smile. Until that day comes, I hope that my son will grow to be like my Grandpa. I hope that Carson will carry on the legacy of that great man and be another bright spot in a world that so desperately needs one. So, with only the greatest love, Carson was given the middle name of Glen. It is an honor, my sweet little one. Please be true to who you are and the family name you bear. Be a “good” man, a great man, a Glen.