My Grandfather : A Short Story

When you think of losing a grandparent in your life, you think of them passing away. You dread the day you will get the call that they are sick. You then begin to cherish all the moments you have with them leading up to their passing. You have time to except their sickness, and come to terms with the outcome that is to come. My PopPop is not here anymore, but do not get confused, for he is alive. I did not have warning. I did not have time to cherish him. I did not have time to say goodbye. My PopPop was on no medication, which was almost uncanny for a 75-year-old. Trying to encompass everything he was boils down to a few things that may not seem like much to someone who didn’t know him. He went on a walk every night after dinner, and would whistle the same tune when he was happy. He played the same little ditty on the piano every time we were all in the living room. He was a simple man who could not harm a fly, and a good man. Unlike the grandchild warned when they are going to lose a grandparent, I did not have this notice. I did not have time to go on one last walk with him, and I did not have time to record him on the piano. I did not have time to replicate his whistling song, or to spend time with the man I knew. My PopPop was the heathiest man I knew, but then he got depression. First slowly, then all at once. The man I knew had slipped from my fingers without any chance to hold on tighter.

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”. I chose to shadow my grandfather because I do not know all that much about him. My grandpa has always seemed like a very interesting person but he does not open up easily. That is another reason i chose to shadow him. My grandpa is usually toiling with a black powder rifle or he is making his own guns or doing research on a weapon unknown to him.

My Great Grandpa was someone I always looked up to. He was someone I loved to spend time with. I always just thought he would be here forever, so I never even thought about never seeing him again. In my opinion my Great Grandpa’s death was a time I had act strong even though I wasn't. He was someone I talked to when I wasn't feeling myself. My Great Grandpa's death was one of the hardest experiences I've ever had to deal with.

There have been countless influential people in my life that I’ve come across. One who was a meticulous inspiration continues to be my grandfather. My grandmother had remarried to the one I call “grandpa” when I was at the age of five, and they both took to each other’s grandchildren as their own. With my mother and me only living a mile down the road from their farmhouse out in the country, I’d spent heaps amount of time there as a child. Indeed, I had been without a father but my grandfather stepped up to the plate and had taken me under his wing and willingly played the personification of a father figure.

My current plan as far as outlining where this thesis is going to go involves dividing Grandpa’s story whereby every part of it will fit into each among the five assigned milestones, starting with his earliest memory in 1941 of Christmas Day at 4 River Lane.

Living in the penniless town of Reeds Spring, Missouri, Bill grew up with nothing. Grandpa was one of thirteen children. His parents, Tom and Maggie, owned, a meager thirteen acres used to tomato farm and a one-room house. The children were used to farm because they did not have money for workers. It’s now early January, and a young boy is laying in the single bed coughing. He is my grandfather Bill Lee Maples. His mother assumes it’s just a simple cold. His parents worked day

We were going to our neighbors on a hot day and all I was wearing was a messy bun, eyeliner, mascara, baggy T-shirt tucked into my high waisted jean shorts, and black converse. I was thinking about what I was going to do afterwards since the neighbor kids were only 7 and 4, until a scrawny little “Meow” was ahead of me. I froze to see a little kitten in the road staring at a car. All my thoughts vanished except for one: I had to save that cat. It brought me back 3 years ago to when I had my other cat, Swiper. He died and it was my fault.

I remember having a kitten in a coma, she had no name, but she was a pretty black color with a little bit of white on her chest. I remember having two cats that ran away, Simba and Icy, I don’t know how old icy was, but simba was two to three years old. I miss those two cats, I wonder how simba is doing. I hope he’s well, I understand if he died, his name should’ve been Scar, that’s what my big sister, Amy said. I miss the cats that ran away. But it’s okay, I understand the good lord calls everyone home. Only if heaven wasn’t so far away, I would go visit my family and the kittens I lost. I’d go see my ancestors and my family members on my momma’s and my daddy’s sides. I’d see my pap-paw again. He died in 2006, right after hurricane Katrina, on the eighth of December, fourteen days before my birthday. I really miss him. If only he were still alive. I hear my family comes from royalty. I wonder if that’s true, they say we are royalty from England. I don’t know if that’s true. I loved my kittens

Warily, I walked over to where my father was standing right outside the school, waiting for Cole and I, when I saw he had shades on, I knew for sure that something was wrong, due to the fact he never wore shades. When we were to the pick-up my whole family was in there. Noticing, when I jumped in the pick-up, my mother also had shades on. Anxiously, I sat there attentively for the longest second of my life, then my father stammered to us that grandfather had passed away. Countless emotions were running through me, overwhelmed; I didn’t know what to think, raving; owing to they said he was going to be adequate, grieving; due to I didn’t get to talk t6o my grandfather before he passed

One of the most prevalent memories from my childhood would arguably be the time my favorite cat, Zhu, died. Unlike the other cats I had at the time, this cat actually enjoyed my presence, snuggling with me when I slept, and not scratching my face off every time I came to pet him. But being the naïve five year old I was at the time, I had no concept of death; I obviously knew it existed, but since I’ve never experienced or heard about a death within the family before, I felt all my loved ones and I were invincible. Well this was until Zhu died. When my parents first told me about the news, I was too much in shock to do anything or react. But once it finally sunk into me that something that was so close to me was gone forever, I cried nights on end. This incident helped me relate a lot to Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, in the sense that one of the most important themes she learns is that experiencing new things matures one’s mind.

I walk over to Grandpa’s to get some money. I’ve heard Mom say that Grandpa doesn’t believe in banks and keeps his money under the bed, so that’s where I will be looking. I enter the house and begin some small talk with Grandpa. When I excuse myself “to go to the bathroom” I search Grandpa’s bedroom. I find nothing, until I see a little chest. I open it up and see the watch. I take it and create a scene by flushing the toilet as if I had actually gone and leave. I just stole Grandpa’s watch and now guilt is filling my body. Once I sell it and get the money, I’ll buy it back, as if I never stole it in the first place. The street clock just struck 5:30 p.m. so; I take out my watch and wound it. I started walking again as the watch was ticking louder

I have an abundance of grotesque, yet, barely visible memories of childhood. However, no breathtaking family trips, no unique family togetherness that taught a moral lesson, no abnormal holidays. We still ate family meals together, but most often the children and adults lived in different worlds. When I needed comforting or wanted the best of both worlds, I could turn to my Grandpa.

I think the person who has had the most profound effect on my life besides my parents is my grandfather. I never realized before how much of an effect he had on my interests and goals for the future. Years ago, he used to tell me stories about historical events and experiences he had fighting in Vietnam and my great grandfather fighting in World War 2. His vivid descriptions always made it so interesting and, in some cases, more light-hearted than what actually happened. To this day he still has more stories to tell me, and never fails to captivate my interest. In doing this, he opened my eyes to my biggest interest, history, and encouraged me to pursue this interest throughout school. I feel like it would help to give a short summary of his life and how it affected me.

When we were together we were invincible, us against the world. I’d look up to him, not only because he was 6’4, but because he was my grandpa. I have clear memories of him picking me up from school, playing old school reggae music during our adventurous car rides. We’d always sing along to our favorites, sometimes turn the music up so loud the people in the cars next to us could hear it. When I would visit his apartment, the familiar smell of drywall and pennies would fill the air. It was my hideaway, my home away from home. My grandpa collected pennies in water jugs. He would say that one day they’d be worth more than just pennies. I loved it there, not only because he had a freezer filled with many flavors of ice cream to which he would often say to me “you can have all you can eat” but because it was our time to bond. For five years it was my mom, my dad, and my grandpa helping me to grow. Those are my favorite people, my role models. Being around my grandpa brought me such comfort and joy.

“I can’t believe that’s true!” I exclaimed, my laughter echoing through the room. My grandpa and I had been chatting on the phone for the past half an hour. You would imagine a man his age would be boring and dull. However, he was quite the joker. At least with me, since I was, of course, his favorite granddaughter.