My Papa

    As many of you may know from my blogs from the past two weeks, my grandpa just recently passed away on April 8. I know this might not be what people want to read about, but he was a huge part of my life and his death has really been taking a toll on me. I wish I had something more fun to write about, but this has consumed my life for the past couple of weeks. Since I don't know what else to talk about, I'm just going to talk about my Papa.

    When I think of my Papa, I remember things like his sarcasm and his funny little sayings, like if you burped, he would say, “Did you get any on ya?” or “Bring it up again and we’ll vote on it.” I remember his crazy metaphors that nobody understood — or at least as a kid, I didn’t understand. Like, “I need to go see a man about a horse.” I’m sorry, what? What does that even mean? I knew that he was the guy to go to if you needed help with your grass, but also the guy whose grass you were afraid to step on. I also knew that if you wanted to see a Michigan museum in the comfort of a home, my Papa’s house was the place to go. Whether it was the Lions, Tigers or especially the Wolverines, my Papa had them on almost every piece of clothing he owned.

    There’s a lot I will remember about my Papa, but above all, I remember his life lessons. Whether us kids were getting into trouble or it was just a good teaching moment, Papa would pull us off to the side and teach us something about life. There are countless things that I learned from my Papa, but some common themes were picking up after yourself and staying organized, always being clean and presentable and always always being respectful!

    If you knew my Papa, you know that he had a place for everything, so you can imagine his face when he saw 10-year-old Reese’s room covered in laundry. He just about had a heart attack. When I asked him why it mattered so much if it was my room and no one else was going to see it, he told me that it’s about forming good habits. He said that when you get a girlfriend someday and she comes over, she’s going to see how messy and unorganized you are, and no one wants to be with someone you have to constantly pick up after. I thought that was a little harsh, but I knew that my Papa told it as it was and that he wouldn’t be telling me if it wasn’t important. So I made sure to pick up after myself and keep my room clean from then on out — which translates to, it would get messy every couple of weeks and I would make sure to clean up when I knew Papa would be coming into my room.

    Now, if you knew my Papa, you also know that he didn’t leave the house until every hair was lying right and, of course, a spritz of his cologne. That’s something I will always remember. My Papa always smelled good, and he always preached this to me, because, of course, I had to smell good for the ladies. Now I was 10, so I didn’t have any ladies, but if it was important to him, then it was important to me. There was one time when I was a kid that I asked him how he smelled so good and told him that I wanted to smell good, too. Well, he took that to heart because that Christmas was filled with what he called “the good stuff.” I got deodorant, cologne, soap — everything you could think of. This may seem like somewhat of an odd gift for any other kid, but for me, it was perfect because every day following that Christmas, I got to be a little more like my Papa.

    As for respect, that was the biggest lesson of all. It only took me talking back to my parents in front of him one time for him to pull me aside. He told me in a very stern voice that I was not to talk back to my parents. He said that they are the ones who gave you life and that they will always deserve your respect no matter what. I had never seen him get so upset about something I did. He seemed so disappointed in me, and I didn’t want to disappoint him again. So, from then on, I did my very best to hold my tongue regardless of how upset I was or if I thought I was right.

    I live by these lessons every day. I have begun to see him in all the things I do and I couldn’t be prouder of who I’m becoming because of the things he’s taught me. Daniel Glenn Reese will forever hold such a special place in my heart and I am so honored to call this amazing man my Papa.