Setting an Example

Instruction is good for a child; but example is worth more.

Alexandre Dumas

Many times, when facing a problem, I find myself wondering what my grandmother would say. To me, she still looms as a paragon of common sense.I remember her as articulate and well spoken. Many of her comments make me smile when I think of them.

She enjoyed clothes and owned an extensive wardrobe. Her recommendation when shopping was not to buy clothes too small. She thought it would look like I had gained weight and couldn’t afford to buy new clothes. Point taken. I never forgot the advice.

On birth control, she believed that if a woman had the first baby, and if a man had the second, there wouldn’t be a third.

Leading by example, I never heard her raise her voice. It wasn’t necessary. She made her point clear without shouting. I never heard her and my grandfather argue. If they did, it was never in front of me.

I am now older than she was when she died. I wonder what she would think about how I have conducted my life. I recognize those were the choices I made. I have some relief in knowing she wouldn’t pass judgment. I believe she recognized she had made her own mistakes along the way.