On August 27th, 2019 - his 88th birthday - my best friend and grandfather, John Thomas Smith, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. On Friday November 15th, 2019, Pappaw passed from this world and was reunited with my grandmother. Before he left, he sat down with me to tell me about his life. We discussed his humble beginnings in Jasper, Indiana, his mother's tragic death, moving to Louisville with an abusive father, growing up and getting into trouble, leaving home and traveling the country alone in his early teens, being drafted into the Korean War, coming home and meeting Marilyn - my grandmother, his years spent working at GE, having kids, having grandkids, the secrets to a happy ...