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Why my grandfather was always the most interesting person in the room
Five small things that made him so special.
In 2020, after the first COVID lockdown, I lost one of the most important people in my life.
My grandfather, who was like a father to me, passed away. He left an emptiness behind that we still feel, and that’s hard to describe.
After he left us, I talked about him with my mother quite frequently. We talked about the unique and memorable person he was. In fact, we still talk a lot about him.
And how he lived his life to the fullest, always with a great sense of humor.
There is something she tells me every time: “To me, he was an incredible man, an everyday genius. And he had this innate ability to spark everyone’s interest in him. Everyone loved to spend time talking with him. He was always the most interesting person in the room.”
And she’s right. Throughout my life, I have met only a few people like him. He was the most authentic person I’ve ever met. He was kind to everyone, incredibly wise, and passionate about everything he did. And people just loved him.
There are certain things I learned from him — that are also the reasons why he was always the most interesting, extraordinary person in the room.
1. He focused his attention on others, rather than trying to impress
My grandfather had this innate ability to make people feel special in his company. He did it by simply being genuinely curious about them. His authentic interest in other people pushed him to ask interesting questions and keep the conversation focused on them.
For example, one thing he always did was to use interesting follow-up questions to keep conversations going, like “Tell me more”, “Why do you think you feel this way”, or “How did you manage to do that?”
And honestly, I can’t remember of anyone who didn’t truly enjoy talking to him.
