Those Moments That Come Out of Nowhere and Put Life Into Perspective.

[Sir Taffsalot]

Ian is my work colleague. I've known him a year and I like him. The truth is, if you can make me laugh, then your going to make it very difficult for me to dislike you. Every Friday morning we go into the office canteen and treat ourselves to a full English breakfast to celebrate the beginning of the weekend. While we are eating we usually talk about what we our doing at the weekend. I asked Ian the usual question and he told me that he was taking his Grandson to the hospital. I told him that I hoped it wasn't serious. He told me it was. His Grandson has cataracts and will be blind when he turns 10. What can you say to that except "I'm sorry to hear that"? Ian told me not to be. He told me that he's old enough and rich enough to retire. The only reason he still keeps working is so he can have enough money to take his grandson on a trip around the world before he turns 10. "God can take his vision away but he won't be able to take his memories away".

 

I was telling this inspirational story to my friends in the pub last night and maybe it was the alcohol talking but I came to a realization. Perhaps super heroes really do exist? I'm not talking about Super Man or Bat Man. You don't have to fly or have millions of dollars for a fast cars and cool gadgets. All you need to do is be there for your loved ones when they need someone to step up and go the extra mile. Perhaps you can't save the world but perhaps you can save someone else's world. When Ian's Grandson turns 10 he will be blind but he will have seen more of the world then most people have seen in their lifetime. That's cooler than anything that Super Man or Bat Man have ever done.

 

Ian is no longer my work colleague. He's a bloody Super Hero!

[RJFerret]

Even better than that, he's not a fictional unbelievable cartoon character, he's better than a Super Hero, he's a real hero.

 

Wow.

[Goldwell]

Your co-worker sounds like a really good guy! And hopefully with the advancement of medical technology his grandson can get his eyesight fixed in his lifetime. If he isn't even 10 yet then i'd say he would have a good chance of that considering how fast technology and medical treatments are moving. I think I was even reading they have basic technology now to give a completely blind person very very basic vision, and what they can do with prosthetic limbs now is incredible, soon that will start becoming more and more available.

 

Who knows maybe his grandson will have these badass augmented eyes in 20-30 years. You can dream but yeah for now it doesn't help obviously so the traveling and the extra work your co-worker is putting in is definitely that of a hero

[Sir Taffsalot]

Your co-worker sounds like a really good guy! And hopefully with the advancement of medical technology his grandson can get his eyesight fixed in his lifetime.

 

I hope this happens soon so that anybody who is blind can benefit from this. When I hear about people who can't see I sometimes wonder if I take my vision for granted. I see the world all the time but do I really see how beautiful it can be?

[Bikerdude]

That brought a tear to my eye.

[Maijstral]

When old people get cataracts, they just remove the eye's lens and drop in an artificial one. I wonder what's different about your colleague's grandson's case. Or maybe he has eye problems in addition to cataracts.

[grayman]

Good story.

 

Good man.

[The Black Arrow]

Last I saw the news about medicine, cataracts can be treated. But I bet it is also very expensive, such is "good life", huh?

 

I don't get what makes him a super hero or a hero. Just because a person has a "good heart" (figuratively speaking) doesn't mean he's a hero, he's just a person who's kind, that's it.

 

Still, this is very typical for a family, so I'm completely unimpressed. Of course a loving family will try its best to make a family member have fun and such, especially when it is proven he will have a miserable life afterwards.

 

Now, excuse my "assholism" if you want to call it like that, but I still wanted to give my broken thought.

[Airship Ballet]

Still, this is very typical for a family, so I'm completely unimpressed. Of course a loving family will try its best to make a family member have fun and such, especially when it is proven he will have a miserable life afterwards.

 

No, it isn't. Don't play it down because it's either expected or typical of a good, functioning family. It's not inherent human nature to care for people who are extremely ill, and it's too common for people to distance themselves from those suffering in order to ease loss out of pocket or heart. It's cold, and it only sounds unlikely because, no matter how cynical and pessimistic you want to appear, we like to think that it's how people will act in these kinds of situations. Chronic or terminal illnesses like these put huge strains on families, and it's a miracle if they pull through maturely and responsibly enough to act the right way. People with debilitating illnesses end up scared and alone if they don't already have people close to them, and children especially will never get to form those kinds of foundations because of the bystander effect. People deal with it in different ways, and somebody going to that kind of effort is admirable, regardless of whether or not it's to be expected and regardless of their relation to them.

[RJFerret]

A friend as multiple sclerosis. When she was first dealing with it after diagnosis, nurses who came to the house to help with injections were impressed her husband was still there, supportive and caring. Apparently it's more typical for spouses to go MIA rather than have integrity.

 

Is her husband a hero? Has he sacrificed himself and gone above and beyond the call of duty most others maintain? Yes he has. Has he extended himself beyond what most others do? Yes. Has he performed exceptionally? Debatable.

 

A key difference is this husband has a vested interest. Improving his wife's existence improves his.

 

This is not the case demonstrated here, various grandparents have various levels of involvement with their grandkids, but sacrificing his free time and self interests to work and produce income primarily for the benefit of another?

 

Exceptional.

[7upMan]

While it's not necessarily an illness, but there are parents with children who are born (or become) deaf or even deaf-mute. I heard many times that some of these parents won't bother to learn sign language and instead send their own children to special residential schools for deaf kids, so they won't be a bother to their parents. It may just be me, but this is something that is completely and absolutely out of the question in terms of right behaviour. While there may be constraints to where to find a school for your deaf kid (after all, every country handles this differently, even in the EU), I think every parent should at the very least have some command of sign language to be able to communicate with their own child.

 

WRT the OT, I find it absolutely admirable for a grandfather to go not just the extra mile for his grandkid but to actually walk a hundred miles, so to say.

 

@The Black Arrow: Sadly, it is absolutely NOT a very typical thing for a family to do. There are many many families (and not even only dysfunctional ones) out there where parents and/or grandparents wouldn't even dream of doing that for a child/grandchild. So yes, in my book, the grandfather is most definitely a hero.

[Xarg]

This thread made me both happy and sad.

[Sir Taffsalot]

I couldn't disagree with you anymore Black Arrow. This is certainly not expected of him. Ian has worked all his life, raised a family and paid his mortgage so that his family has a home. He has every right to put his feet up and enjoy what's left of his life. This doesn't make him any less of a man and it doesn't prevent him from being a fantastic grandfather. That he is willing to go well beyond the call of duty is what makes him a hero IMO.

 

For what it's worth I do think that Ian would agree with you though. He's just doing what any decent grandfather would do.