Inspiring

I stole this from Mack Oates. A. Because it's about my grandparents who were the most amazing people on the planet. B. It's an encouraging message.

Walking with Cigars
  I had just finished cooking for a rehearsal dinner and was standing 
  around visiting when Patty Morris, a lifelong friend, came up and gave 
  me a hug. My wife PK was there and we started talking about weddings 
  and families and Patty said "You remember that time we walked around 
  the block smoking cigars?" ……. When I was growing up Patty's husband 
  Eli and I were best friends, we've known each other since we were 10, 
  46 years. We're still close, his office is 30 feet from mine…. His mom and 
  dad were like second parents to me, I spent as many hours at his house 
  as I did at mine, probably more if you don't count sleep. To me his mom 
  was Modelle (mo - dell) and his dad was Eli Sr. … Later when the 
  grandkids showed up their names got changed to NaNa & BooBoo … 
  They were the sweetest people in the whole world. We did all kinds of 
  stupid things, but never really got in trouble. It was always fun and 
  comfortable to be in their house… Modelle always called me "darling" and 
  gave me a big hug every time I walked in the house … In her younger 
  years she was a Rockette at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Later 
  she and her sister were a dance team that traveled around the country 
  doing shows like Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. At one point they 
  were the opening act at the Peabody Hotel here in Memphis where Eli 
  Sr was a Bell Hop with the little round hat and uniform, just like in the 
  movies .. They could tell stories for hours … Imagine your mom being a 
  Rockette!!!   They got married, had kids and moved in down the street 
  from us…. Modelle was 41 when young Eli was born, David came a few 
  years later. She was 51 when they moved in to our neighborhood. They 
  were Eli's parents but they seemed more like Grandparents. They had 
  that Grandparent feel that all kids love. They did stuff that grandparents 
  do. Modelle fed me every time I was there. Eli Sr. let us drive his car and 
  didn't try to scare us with what would happen if we drove too fast. He 
  put up a basketball goal that we played on almost every day. I ran 
  through one of his windows playing ping pong one time, he just laughed 
  and had it fixed… Several years ago Modelle died and then a few years 
  after that Eli Sr. died. It was hard to lose them. It was like something 
  magical had been taken away … After Eli Sr's funeral I was sitting in my 
  office wondering if there was anything I could do. I knew they had more 
  food than they could eat in a month and all the details were done. There 
  wasn't really much left. Then I remembered what my dad always said 
  about funerals and weddings: "90% is just showing up." So I thought 
  the best thing I could do is just show up. I drove over to their house and 
  just as I was pulling up Patty, Eli, Lindsay, Tommy, and Avery (the whole 
  family) were walking out the front door. Eli said "want to go for a walk?" 
  … "Sure" … "Want a Cigar?" … "Sure" … and he handed me one. We lit our 
  cigars, all of us, and started walking. We walked 
  through the night laughing and smoking and telling NaNa & BooBoo 
  stories … it was one of the great moments of my life….
  
  God's like that: Most of the time all you have to do is show up. He'll take 
  it from there. Your whole life has been preparing you for the moment. Go 
  and see what happens. Don't be afraid, just go … 
  
  Maybe I'll start taking cigars to funerals. It's a great way to celebrate 
  someone's life.