Parents and children, part two

Case,

I called your Grandma Pallister today to check in and see how things were going. She didn't sound like her usual positive self; she sounded detached, precoccupied. We talked for a few minutes and I asked her if eveyrhting was OK. She said your Grandpa Pallister wasn't doing well. He's had leg problems for a while, but now, apparently, he can hardly walk. That's tough on both of them. It's very difficult for your Grandpa to struggle so much to do simple things like walking to the kitchen, given the life he lived. In his heyday, your Grandpa was a man's man. He was a Chicago firefighter for almost 30 years, and he worked on a moving truck as a second job for decades. He has always been a very tough man, and even though he doesn't  realize it, that toughness shows itself every time he fights through the pain and makes even the smallest trip around the condo. As for your Grandma, she continues a life filled with sacrfice. She raised six children over the span of 40 years, and as your Grandpa's health has deteriorated after he was forced to retire almost 29 years ago, she has stuck by his side, often literally.

I will continue to write about them so you understand just how wonderful they have been and how much their influence has shaped my life. But today, I will leave you with a song I wrote about five years ago:

Take a closer look

Alone in a lobby
a boy wonders why
You become a man on the day
you see the strongest man cry
The distance between us
made it hard to connect
But the passage of time
was a door to respect

When you're searching for heroes
you don't have to go far
'cause they don't hit a baseball
or play a guitar
You won't find 'em in the TV
You won't find 'em in a book
You'll find 'em right in front of you
Take a closer look

See that old man
struggling upstairs with a cane
He's always been so much more
to those who proudly wear his name
He spent years fighting fires
He outsmarted bombs
And to five sons and a daughter
his ethic passed on

Witness to an agony
no one could explain
Every man becomes a boy
when his mother's in pain
Through all my fears, in all these years
I found comfort in one place
Though we never made it easy
she keeps a smile on her face

When you're searching for heroes
you don't have to go far
'cause they don't run for office
or own fancy cars
You won't find 'em on the big screen
You won't find 'em off the hook
You'll find 'em right in front of you
Take a closer look

See that old woman
who's lost the color in her hair
That's from a life of sacrifice
and a family's burdens to bear
Five-plus decades and counting
winter, spring, summer and fall
Being there for everyone
is the hardest job of all

When you're searching for heroes
you don't have to go far
In those old familiar places,
right there they are