This global pandemic has impacted all of us. It has upended our daily routines. It has interrupted our friendships and social interactions. It has altered our work habits. Many have lost income and stability. And for others an even graver toll as they mourn the loss of a loved one.
This past week has changed forever how I will view this moment in time; I moved into the last category.
In a small, tidy room, found in a clean, friendly retirement community, nestled between a sea of cornfields; the virus claimed someone that I loved very deeply - my grandmother. Grandma was 102 years old. She was born during the Spanish Flu and it took the Covid-19 pandemic to lay her to rest. I won’t explain the history she witnessed in between, but you can imagine the events she told me about over the years. By many measures Grandma lived a rather unextraordinary life. She traveled very little, almost all her days were spent in her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa. She had a few jobs, but nothing that one would call a career. She did not accumulate wealth, but somehow, she had enough to get by. She was sharp as a tack but didn’t have the opportunity to even complete high school. Grandma did not accrue honors, distinctions, or achievements in any measurable way. However, she lived a happy, content life based around two simple virtues: kindness and humility.
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking of yourself less.” - C. S. Lewis
Grandma did not preach these virtues, she simply lived them every day for 102 years. Her legacy is the consistency and dependability of a kind and humble life. She was always kind to everyone. Not most of the time. Not some of the time. All the time…for 102 years. She helped others consistently and would hardly accept a thank-you. My grandmother would be mortified if she knew I was telling people these things about her. She would say she was undeserving and unworthy, giving others the credit and then changing the subject. True humility does not know that it is humble.
I miss Grandma dearly, and to honor her, I will do my best to live a life of simple kindness and quiet humbleness. Maybe that’s one honor she would be okay with.