Everything's a Lesson

Now if I have to describe one of my relatives, it would definitely have to be my Grandpa Rob. In some ways he is the prototypical grandpa but in other ways he is so not. Just looking at him you would never be able to guess his age. He is approaching 80 but still looks like he is in his late 60's because he is physically fit and eats well. Before he broke his shoulder a few years ago he even competed in roller blading marathons in his 70's. He wears glasses, stands about five feet ten inches, and has pretty much no hair. He was in the military for a little while after college, and then he spent his life as a social studies teacher and swimming coach.
Now he is unlike most old people in that he travels the world. A few years ago he and my grandma went to Tunisia in Africa. The next year they toured Europe. The next year they went to Costa Rica. The next year they went to the southernmost tip of South America. My grandpa is always in search of a new adventure but sometimes I think it is all because he wants to tell his family about it when he gets home, and pull a deeper meaning out of it. My grandpa, forever a teacher, always has a story to tell and something to teach you. For any subject you are talking about he will search for something you don't know about it and then tell you about that thing. Trust me, he is really smart so he will find something you don't know. Good thing I like learning new things so I enjoy talking with my grandpa. Even today I had dinner with him and I was talking to him about the math team meet tonight. I said that I got a perfect score and Wayzata won the meet, and that St. Louis Park did poorly among other schools. He told me that St. Louis Park used to always win so I said "oh that's interesting". I then proceeded to learn about Russian immigration patterns and Jewish camps in Europe holding refugees before import quotas were lifted and about how the Russian families moved into St. Louis Park and highland and how the Russian families were in outrage that math and science wasn't taught until age 6 and how they dominated the math and science communities. Interesting right?
My grandpa is a very observant and confident person. He is easily the head of the family, and his decision is final on where we go to eat, who does what, anything, it has to be cleared with my grandpa if he is there. He is also one of those people who when you do something wrong he won't yell at you or punish you he will just acknowledge you, or say your name and be very calm about it but you know he is disappointed. For anybody who hasn't experienced that, it's the worst. But it impacts you much more than getting screamed at.
He also knows everyone's potential and knows how to pull it out of them. One example is how every time he asks me how something went, and I give my go to response, "good", he will say "Jordan, that is not an answer. Give me more." He has always been an intellectual person and he expects it from me, for me to reflect on the things I have done or have experienced rather than just experiencing them. My grandpa somehow understands what is best for everybody and is not afraid to let everyone know that he knows that, which I love about him. I love how he breaks off onto tangents and teaches me new things every time I am with him. I am thankful for my grandpa, the way he looks at life, everything he has taught me, and everything he has yet to teach me.