I never knew my grandparents, but family friends – Mr. and Mrs. Hope – became surrogate grandparents to me. They led my mother to the Lord and treated her and me and my siblings as part of their family.
Some of my fondest childhood memories are visiting with Grandpa Hope. He would sit in a big recliner in his garden atrium, play checkers with us kids and – like any good grandfather – lose on purpose often enough to build our self-confidence.