Grandpa Inouye

A couple of days ago I was opening up my planner and the little daily quote captured my eye (I usually never read them). It was:

"The heights by great men reached and kept

Were not attained by sudden flight,

But they, while their companion slept,

Were toiling upward in the night."

--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It caught my eye not just because it is a good quote, but because my Grandpa Inouye would always quote this. He always had his little quotes that he would share at every get-together, wedding, prayer, talk, etc. To share a couple:

• There are no strangers in the world, just friends you have never met.


• The cry of a baby is the same all over the world.

and his most famous:

• You'll never see a U-Haul following a hearse (to explain the photo above).

Grandpa passed away last August. I knew it was coming, especially as he was 91 years old, but it was surprisingly difficult when he passed away. I am really grateful that Mitch could get to know him before he passed away, and I think they had a little BYU football bond. Grandpa was a die-hard BYU sportsfan until the end. Mitch says that there was no way he will be going to games like grandpa if he makes it to 91. Grandpa was a great person and a great example. I still feel I am learning from him. SO I dedicate this blog to him. Oh...and we did rent a u-haul to follow his hearse. That kind of makes our family seem wierd, but it really was in tribute and honor to him. Grandpa had a good sense of humor.