Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

Yesterday was the birthday of my granddaughter's father, my former son-in-law. He is a hero. He hung in as a father after their divorce, and they shared custody. He moved three blocks away so he could help more the last six years, while my daughter battled breast cancer. My granddaughter could go to either house after school by walking. He was tactful during my daughter's remarriage and kind to her new husband's two sons. But once she divorced her second husband, he stepped in at a moment's notice to take care of their daughter, drive my daughter to chemo, pick their daughter when my daughter was sick. When covid hit and our family couldn't fly up to be with my daughter, he stayed every night in the guest room so she would never be alone, and when my husband and I came up as she was dying, he trusted we'd been careful about covid, and we ate together and he continued to spend every night there. He and I developed a decision making process for dealing with all the issues, the safety of nurses entering the home, and contingency plans for whatever might arise. I was the one upstairs with my daughter when she died, and I ran downstairs and he rushed up, while my husband stayed with our granddaughter. We made every decision together, in harmony, both knowing what my daughter wanted. After she died we stayed and helped him move his stuff into the house as he'd promised to raise their daughter in the only house she could remember, one they'd bought together and he'd relinquished any right to so they could kept their daughter's life as stable as possible. He's a remarkable father, and I hope they enjoyed their steak and ice cream dinner to celebrate. I can't wait to get the vaccine so I can see them again. But our granddaughter is in the best possible hands.