I hope that this will once again confirm that the most important information in your life won't come from a teacher, the library or the internet, but from a mentor, and on a very personal level.

My long-passed grandfather's birthday is coming up, and for me it is a time to reminisce. The long walks we used to take. The long drives. The special trips he would make to pick me up so I could spend weekends with him, and the advice he used to give!

Much was wasted because I was young when he died. If he were alive today and sharing his pearls of wisdom, I'd be a better man.

Those gems were well and good, but the one I remember most, the jewel in the crown of grandfatherly advice, came when I was only 12. We were sitting in a park, watching children and their mothers enjoying a beautiful spring day.

He told me that one day, I'd find a woman and start my own family. "And son," he said, "be sure you marry a woman with small hands."

"How come, Grandpa?" I asked. "It makes your pecker look bigger."

Kinda brings a tear to your eye, doesn't it?