grandparents

Randomly thought of my grandparents today. Well, maybe not so randomly. I had to write a short paragraph for peds on why I wanted to become a physician, and I realized their attitudes towards life and society had a lot to do with it. But it's not like they ever sat me down and talked to me about that. It was just in all the little everyday things they did that showed me what they believed. That made a far deeper impression upon me than any grandstanding they could have done.

(Those, by the way, are my paternal grandparents. My maternal grandparents have also made a deep impression upon me, but less upon my choice of career. More on them another time.)

I hope they are well. I realize they are getting on in the years, and it's hard for me sometimes to reconcile that fact with the spry, playful grandparents I remember from my youth. I'd really like to go back to China after graduation; originally, they were planning to come here to see me get my MD, but I don't think their health will allow for that now. So it's my turn to go to them.

Finally, I hope I grow up to be someone's hero like they are mine.