Grandfather's words ring true

My grandfather, after spending three years fighting on the front lines in the First World War, had to then live in fear of his family being infected during the pandemic of 1918, in which 500 million people were infected and an estimated 50 million died.

Several times during my childhood he told me that after those two horrific experiences he never again took anything about life for granted, even the smallest aspects of daily life and the tiniest details of the world he lived in. I believe that, for the first time in my life, I have come to really understand what he was talking about.

As an extremely vulnerable senior citizen who has been isolated from friends and family since April, there are dozens of times daily that I am reminded of how much I failed in the past to perceive the significance and value of even the smallest of activities and experiences that fill everyday life, and how I took the common aspects of daily habits and routines and interactions with other people for granted without being fully conscious or appreciative of how important they really are.

And more than anything else, this experience of prolonged isolation has greatly heightened my appreciation of the relationships I have with other people and how profoundly important it is to never take those relationships for granted, no matter how casual or deeply engaged they might be.

Although my experiences cannot compare to the traumas and anxieties my grandfather lived through between 1914 and 1920, I do comprehend the lesson he was trying to impart to me all those years ago: “Don't ever take anything for granted Raymond. It's all so important!”

I hear you Gramps!

Ray Arnold, Richmond