Back in the day my gramps would ask me as a small boy, "Hey, wanna play a new card game?!" In my excitement, I'd say "yeah sure ok!" "It's called 52 Pickup!" "Oh ok, how do you play that?!" Then, invariably, he'd throw all 52 cards on the floor and say, "now pick 'em up!" Hardy har har! My gramps was a bigtime jokester, that's just how he was. There was no malice in his heart, he was just an old WWII vet who, if he liked you, would joke, poke, prod, mess with, and rib and jab with you. It was just his way of saying that he liked you! Because if he didn't like a person, he'd completely ignore the person! Anyway, I'm calling this episode "52 Pick-me-ups" in honor of my grandfather, who was the strongest, kindest, most clam and easygoing soul I ever met. Since his passing in 2006, I've really grown to miss him and my grandma very much. He's really become, along with my grandma, someone I think about often to offer me cosmic wisdom from beyond! He's become my Obi Wan in essence, and for whom without his teachings I would never have become the man I am today. He taught me wisdom, calm, grace under fire, a relaxed and jovial demeanor, and to be capable and steady as she goes.  I am the person I am today due to his guidance and example. 

Because everything good about me is due to him and his teachings, I am titling this show "52 pick-me ups" in honor of one of the greatest and wisest man who I've ever known. He wasn't fancy, he wasn't sophisticated, and occasionally his solutions were sometimes "crude but effective!" But at the end of the day, he didn't worry about the world, he didn't fret over what's going on in the world, he didn't spend his time caring what others were doing, saying, or thinking. He didn't get caught up in anything he thought was nonsense, he just did his thing, raised his family to the best of his abilities, and had his simple pleasures in life, tinkering in the garage, fixing his little boat (by the end it was more Bondo than wood!), watching his football, and fishing with his friends. I have a feeling that if he were alive today, he'd say something like, "people get so uptight about everything." Sometimes his words come to me, and often speak through me, in a weird way. Since my list was 52 things, and my grandfather is the person I learned the most about life and inner toughness from, I thought it was a fitting tribute to the man. They just don't make 'em like that anymore. I miss you gramps.

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