Brayden K., Kettering Fairmont Middle School
Finding Strength in a Smile
Growing up, my grandfather was a steady beacon in my life, but watching him battle lung cancer and COPD transformed our relationship into something much deeper. The hardest part wasn’t just my mom telling me medical updates or watching him struggle to breathe. It was seeing him laugh and smile when I visited him at the hospital, even when we both knew he was dying. My grandfather and I were alone in a room, with the steady beep of the machinery and quiet sorrow. Yet, even in those final, tragic years of his he never stopped caring for me, or his desire to put others before himself.
Carrying that grief outside the hospital into my everyday life was overwhelming. Whenever I faced challenges, setbacks, or negative words that made me want to give up, I would remember my grandfather in the hospital bed simply laying there, dying. If he could find the courage to keep smiling whilst fighting off cancer and COPD, I could find the self-confidence to face the roadblocks on my path head-on and stop letting negative things drag me down. It was as if his words were shiny armor against stress and the heavy burdens of everyday life.
Dottie Yeck’s philosophy states that “Being Good + Doing Good = Having Fun and Being Happy” My grandfather lived that every single day. By choosing to focus on being happy instead of basking in his own pain, he taught me that peace and happiness come from how we treat people, as well as how we choose to live our lives. No matter how hard life gets. Carrying the memory of him has given me the confidence to not let negative thoughts, influences, or even people affect me. I’ve learned to be myself, and try to bring the same strength to the challenges I face as he did his.
