The Gopher who became a legend

“Our destiny is not determined by the number of times we stumble but by the number of times we rise up, dust ourselves off, and move forward”, Dieter Uchtdorf. So many people’s destiny would be terrible if they didn’t rise up, dust off and move forward! I have met many people in my life and I wonder if there’s just one of them that hasn’t been through a bad experience but after dusting himself, moved forward and overcome the difficulty.

Life is full of difficulties, for everyone. There’s a precise one for each person. The kind of difficulty which will enable the person grow, depending on how he/she deals with it. My friend’s father was forced to leave his country, old Yugoslavia, because of the war. He found himself in a ship going to USA in the early 1900. Once there, he asked his parents for a Yugoslavian girl to be his wife. They sent one. They didn’t know each other till she got to his place. After a short time, he was sent to war to battle for his new country. Never came back. His widow raised by herself two kids. One of them became my beloved friend. He also battled for his country during the WWII. When coming back in the ship and he saw the San Francisco bridge, he thought he was going to paradise. Always refused to talk about his experiences during war in spite of my curiosity. He studied and had a brilliant career.  After having two children he got divorced. He was a humble soul who passed away as a legend. That’s how they call him, the legend from Minneapolis, Roy Griak. He had an unconditional love for his mother, he missed her during his whole life. Always talked about her and how she had overcome all the difficulties she had had in her life. He also had many difficulties, but embraced them in such a way, success was reflected in his life. He was a great example for me.

This loved friend was the first one who gave me $100 to start saving to get out of my country, because the economic situation which was in decay. We followed his advice and we emigrated. Our family has been through many challenges since then but we’ve always faced them with the hope of something better to come. My husband and me have grown a lot during all this time, and continue our path of learning together. Difficulties are the ones that have helped us, without a doubt. We have been forced to take decisions no one would take when living in a comfortable situation. I know, by my experience that any little stone on your path makes you stronger if you know how to deal with it. In fact, they are on our way to make us grow and become humble.

Remembering one of the big ones in my life, Roy Griak. It was worth to meet you, an honour to be called a friend, always in my heart. Until we meet again, humble legend.