About a little over a week ago, on April 6, 2016, I lost my grandpa: William Schreiber.

He was 92 years old and lived an amazing life. Although it was extremely hard to lose my grandpa while being alone here abroad, I have realized that it is okay. I know that he was ready to go and loved everything about his life, and that is what eventually put me at peace.

I know that my grandpa would be so happy if he knew about how much I have been traveling and how much I have seen here in Europe. I have come to learn that life is so short, and even 92 years of my grandpa’s life did not seem like enough to me, SO I need to continue living fully and experiencing everything that I can. That is what my grandpa always encouraged me to do.

A little bit about my grandpa:

He was the smartest person I knew. He was an electrical engineer and a US Naval Officer. My grandpa loved both being an engineer and the Navy so much. He could fix anything and knew everything.

He always encouraged us to go to college and to travel. He traveled the world while he was in the Navy and told us a lot of his stories. While growing up with a Grandpa like this, I had always dreamed of traveling like he did. By the time I leave Prague, I will have traveled to over 10 countries, seen many historical landmarks, and lived freely. This is exactly what he would have wanted. It makes me happy knowing that he is smiling down on me from Heaven and going on all of these adventures with me!

My grandpa also valued exercise and not smoking, which is something he told us to follow. While being here in Prague, everyone surrounding me smokes so much. Luckily, I was raised to know that it is bad for me and have not picked up this habit. It is actually crazy how much people smoke here in Europe! While continuing to honor his advice, a couple of days after I found out that my grandpa was dying, on a run here in the parks near the dorms, I started to cry because it had all hit me. I was losing one of my favorite people in this world, and I could not even be there to say goodbye.

I found that my grandpa had passed away the day before I left for Krakow, Poland. That was really tough on me because we were going to visit Auschwitz that weekend, so it was a very sad weekend for me. Luckily, I had Laura, Kate Waldheim, and Kate Minnihan, and they are all such kind girls. They helped me by letting me talk to them about what I was going through.

So my grandpa’s funeral was held on Saturday, April 9th, which is the day that I went to tour Auschwitz. I am so glad I went there that weekend because I think I would have been just as sad being home. It was a heavy day emotionally for me, but I am at peace with everything now!

I know that I have been blessed with the best grandparents in the world, and I am so lucky that I still have an incredible one alive!