My father-in-law, Al Sisler, died on Monday. Today is his funeral. He will be desperately missed, but thankfully, as I wrote on Tuesday, death was not the end for him. Below are a few things I will remember most about Al Sisler.
The first thing I remember noticing about Al Sisler was his smile. It was kind of a half-smile. Not a full-on toothy grin, but a gentle, warm, upturn at the corners of the mouth. It was as if he saw something beautiful and slightly humorous in life, and was smiling to himself about it. As long as I have known him, I don’t think I ever saw him without that smile. The smile represented everything that was “his way.”
I still remember when I asked if I could marry his only daughter. I was so nervous about what he would say, but he smiled that soothing smile and said, “Well, Jeremy, she’s a grown woman. We let her make those decisions on her own.” It was not an answer I expected, but it represented the way he lived his life and loved his family.
Such an answer also showed he way of trusting his children. He loved them so much that while he offered advice when asked for it, he let them make their own decisions, and follow their own path. He hoped for the best in all of them, and helped in any way he could to make their dreams come true.