Grandpa Albert Sankey already was blind in one eye five years ago before glaucoma shut the lights all the way out.
There is no good time to go blind, of course, but for a Southern grandfather with a football-aged grandson -- that was a little extra sand in the face.
The kid was good, too. And keeps getting better.
University of Washington running back Bishop Sankey is the NCAA's leading rusher, and he's scored twice as No. 15 Washington plays at No. 5 Stanford .
And Albert Stankey is there watching.
"I feel good. I feel like I can get out there and put on a suit (uniform)," Albert Sankey told the Seattle Times this week . "I could be the fullback. I could block for Bishop!"
A few weeks ago, Grandpa Stankey received a cornea transplant at UCLA's Laser Refractive Center. When he took off the eye patch after surgery, he saw the nurse.
"I was blind and now I can see," he said. "It's a miracle."
Stankey watched Bishop run for 161 yards on a school-record 40 carries last week in a win over Arizona, but that was merely on television.
This week is for real, out there smelling the leaves, hearing the band . . . and most importantly, witnessing his grandson firsthand.
"I can't wait to hug him," grandpa Sankey said, "and see his face."
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