Today is six years since my Papa died. He taught me so much about life and below are the words I spoke at his funeral.
I have heard it said, that people come into our lives
For a reason, bringing something we must learn
And we are led to those who help us most to grow
If we let them, and we help them in return
Well I don’t know if I believe that is true
But I know I am who I am today, because I knew you
Like a comet pulled from orbit as it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder halfway through the wood
Who can say if I have been changed for the better,
because I knew you,
I have been changed for good
As Mandy and I were driving home last weekend from seeing Papa for what would be out last time, these words were in a song that I have heard many times. As I listened to them this time, they were new to me, for as I listened I could not help but start to weep, for they were words that described my Papa.
We were each led to the life of Bill Frost in different ways. Some knew him as a friend and called him Bill. Others worked with him. He was a brother, a son, and uncle, a nephew. Two individuals were fortunate to call him Dad. One chose to call him Honey for the last 55 years. I was one of the two who were lucky enough to be born as his granddaughter. Regardless of the way each of us came to know him, we each learned important lessons from him. These lessons did not come from lengthy lectures or discussions; these lessons came from the way in which he treated each of us. They came from the way he gave of his time and self to others, never looking for credit or anything in return, but merely living this way because it was the right thing to do.
My mother always told me that Papa walked on water. My dad told me he knew where the rocks were. In the end I don’t think it really matter. What matters is that Papa knew how to live life and assist all other to have a better life. Helping others was not secondary to him, but it was life. He never once sat me down to tell me how to treat others or what was important. Instead he invited me into his life, in the same way he invited so many of you. It was through living life with him that his knowledge and wisdom was imparted.
We would all be lucky to live life in some of the ways as my Papa. I fell this is our responsibility. For to claim that we knew him and loved him does not end with merely talking about what he did for us or others, but it is to take what we saw and try our best to live our lives in such a way.
It well may be , that we will never meet again
In this lifetime so let me say before we part
So much of me is made of what I learned from you
You will be with me like a hand-print on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have rewritten mine, by being my friend
Like a ship blown from its mooring by a wind off the sea
Like a see dropped by a sky bird in a distant world
Who can say if I have been changed for the better,
Because I knew you,
I have been changed for the good
I do believe I have been changed for the better,
because I knew you,
Because I knew you, I have been changed for good.
**Song at the beginning and end is from Wicked.
Amy Bigbee Grosso, PhD 
One response to “My PAPA”
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