For years, whenever we asked each other for advice, my daughters and I often replied, “What would Granddaddy Haden do?” Usually, that would end the problem-solving: My dad would have chosen the hard way through, not the easy way out.
“What would Granddaddy Haden do?” became shorthand for making a decision you could live with.
While we didn’t think of it that way, taking a step back to view a situation from his point of view was a form of self-distancing, helping us gain better control of our emotions and be more objective and logical.