It is my personal belief that the most offensive thing anyone in my family can do is… die. When I was just 14 years old, my grandmother passed away. The tears I shed at her funeral were among the most recent to kiss my face. I did not cry often, but as I watched her body lower into the dirt prison we had carved from the earth for her I thought only of the time she let me put chocolate syrup on my pancakes. I must’ve been about 6 years old when I came down with severe headaches that prevented my attendance from Martinsburg Elementary. When my grandmother asked what I would like to eat I requested none other than chocolate chip pancakes. But alas, Nana was out of chocolate chips at the time. As I tried to settle for the normal pancakes my Nana had presented me I asked if I might be allowed to smother them in chocolate syrup; she graciously agreed. We laughed and giggled at the amount of chocolate syrup that made its way from the plate to my cheeks. I hold this kind memory of my grandmother dear. After we piled the dirt onto my grandmother’s corpse I heard comments that lacked taste in my grandmother’s memory. “She was completely evil” my mother would say. “Nana hated children, that’s why she was never around” my father would tell my siblings. Why was this the legacy that was cursed upon my grandmother? She was caring, kind, beautiful, and nurturing. No amount of my parents’ propaganda will ever change who she was in my heart. This, I believe: your legacy is not your life.  Joe Paterno is remembered in the hearts of millions as a man who may have not acted with honor in one instance. One instance, and his legacy was changed forever. Do American’s remember the millions of lives Paterno changed with his endorsement of the Liberal Arts, his countless donations to an institution of higher education, or even his determination to meet all students who reached out to him? American’s remember his legacy. American’s remember not who he was, but what facts most outwardly defined the end of his life. One’s legacy may be summed up in a few words. However, one’s character may never be done justice in those same few.