My grandfather is a wonderful man. He was a social worker and has always made it a point in his life to make other people happy. A trait he has passed on to his son (my dad) and also to me. I plan to follow his foot steps in Sociology, maybe as a social worker. We'll see.
But what is amazing about my grandfather is that he cannot smile. He was born with Moebius Syndrome. Moebius Syndrome (as defined by wikipedia) is "an extremely rare congenital neurological disorder which is characterized by facial paralysis and the inability to move the eyes from side to side. Most people with Möbius syndrome are born with complete facial paralysis and cannot close their eyes or form facial expressions." My grandfather has always been good at making friends and is always talking and meeting new people. He recently went to a Moebius Syndrome conference in Colorado along with many people that also have Moebius or family of those that do. There were people of all ages, from young children to seniors. I learned that he is the oldest living person with Moebius Syndrome.
My grandfather has told me a couple times that I should always smile and never take it for granted because not everyone is blessed with the ability to smile. A lesson that I have not fully taken to heart though I should. We shouldn't take any gift, even seemingly small ones, for granted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY2dWqA2z_Q
This is a video slide show of the conference that he went to. It truly is amazing to see how much of a difference a smile makes.
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