THE ADVICE THAT IS ALWAYS GOOD

CHRIST IN WINTER: Reflections on Faith for the Years of Winter… ©

Every once in a while, I write some advice to my grandchildren. It would be really helpful to them if they were in their 70s or 80s. Maybe even their 60s. But they are 20 and 17.

The wisdom I have to pass along is the stuff you learn when you’re old. Yes, it could be applied by younger folks… but, no.

I sometimes I have a slight glimmering, flickering memory--like an early black and white movie--of what it is like to be 17 or 20, but I no longer have the wisdom that applies to those ages. I suspect I never did have that particular wisdom. That’s why, in the stories I tell of myself at those ages, I am so much smarter than I really was.

Many grandparents have significant stuff to pass along to their grandchildren—money, property, quilts, recipes, carvings, silver, paintings, 1950S baseball cards, fame. I have none of those. All I have is advice.

Many folks have noted, though—and it’s often attributed to Maya Angelou—that you may not remember anything someone said to you, but you’ll always remember how they made you feel.

So I write advice to my grandchildren, not because it’s good advice, but because I want them to remember: My grandfather loved me enough to give me the only thing he had to give.

JRMcF

johnrobertmcfarland@gmail.com

I tweet as yooper1721.

NOW THAT I HAVE CANCER I AM WHOLE: Reflections on Life and Healing for Cancer Patients and Those Who Love Them, is published in two editions by AndrewsMcMeel, in audio by HarperAudio, and in Czech and Japanese translations. It’s incredibly inexpensive at many sites on the web. Naturally I’d rather you bought it, but apparently you can download it for free on Free-Ebooks.net, It says “Download 2048.”