Setting the bar high

There are a number of people I admire but right at the top of that list would have to be Jack Fitzgerald, my wife's grandfather. He was one of the nicest people I've ever met and would always greet you with a smile, and you knew he was sincere when he said it was good to see you. And he was one of those people that made a real and positive difference in the lives of others – LOTS of others! When he passed away a few years ago he was lovingly remembered by so many people who had been his students back when he was a teacher, coach, and principal, and many of those people were then in their 60s or older and had stayed in touch with him through the years.

But I can't think of Jack without also thinking of his beautiful wife, Doris. She was perhaps the classiest person I've ever known and Jack treated her like a queen. They were married on May 30th, 1942. The United States had entered World War II and I think he was in officer training with the Navy in Chicago at the time. If I remember the story correctly, she drove there by herself from California so they could be married before he was deployed.

But the reason I'm thinking of them today is that Jamie and I were married on their 50th anniversary. And as we celebrate our 21st – which would have been their 71st – I hope that I can always be as patient and kind and loving to my beautiful wife as Jack was to his. He set the bar pretty high, but that's where it should be.