Living well and beautifully and justly are all one thing - Socrates

I returned from my hometown yesterday afternoon after another quiet Christmas at my parents' place. This year was bittersweet. My grandfather, who has been in the hospital for over two months now fighting an eminent death, could not be with us at home. He doesn't talk much these days, but each time I see him, he asks, "How's my attorney? When will you get your Supreme Court nomination?" I told him some time ago that our dreams of my U.S. Supreme Court nomination were shot when I realized I couldn't get the closet door closed around all of my skeletons. So now he just aspires to his granddaughter becoming a judge, preferably an Indiana Supreme Court justice. I used to tell him I simply don't have the brilliant legal mind for such a position (nor the desire, and you know, the skeletons don't bode well for an Indiana Supreme, either), but he rolled his eyes and waved me off. These days, I just tell him that I'm working on it. I want him to leave this earth proud of the the person I have become, and hopeful for the person I might be someday. He always believed that I could be more than I dared to imagine. My grandfather is the modern day Atticus Finch - full of justice and courage and all that is right in the world.

I am going to miss him and his never-ending, infalliable faith in me. I hope I can continue to dream big once he's not here to cheer me on.