When I was ten years old and my maternal grandfather passed away, my family asked me to deliver some impromptu remarks.

I had completely forgotten about this until my parents sent me a video of my one-minute speech.

What is striking about it is that, if I hadn’t had the one-on-one visit with him that I describe, I probably would not have had very much to say about him.

Most of the occasions I saw my grandpa were at large family gatherings, especially for holidays, when there was most certainly a kids table.

But when he died, I beamed with pride at the memories of my own that I had of him – beamed with pride because, despite everyone else having known him better and longer, these were stories that only I could tell.

Here’s the video of my fortuitous tribute entirely thanks to one-on-one time we spent together.