My Grandfather- The Gift of My Life
If I could be like anybody, I would wish to become more like my late grandfather, whose memories have inspired me to strive for success, like the smell of old, dusty books which reminds me of his admiration on learning. An avid collector, he had many books, most of which went unread. He owned books on everything from medicine to Spain, to several sets of encyclopedias. After he faced health problems, he came less to the library and read fewer books. They became just part of the scenery, collecting only dust and memories. I have read a few now, after he is gone, and each time it brings back a hurt like a sore that refuses to heal. But I suppose it is a quest of sorts, because if can take on his thirst
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This house had two floors with three bedrooms on the top floor and the storage rooms, where some of the goats also stayed, on the ground floor. The house was built in the late 1800s before my father was born, it was my grandfather’s skills in organizing family members and his strategic direction, of delegating the business operation to his several sons, according to their skills and abilities. The result is a strong group interaction that has created the foundation of our family business, which is considered one of the most successful family businesses in Yemen. However, I believe it is his independent endeavor that established his early success in business, as is evident by the roughness of his hands, a roughness resulting from the labor of his work throughout his life. At the same time, my father told me he would hold my father's hands, so gently with his rough hands when having a conversation with my father.
The saddest part of my memories of grandpa was the day my father took me along with him to visit my dying grandfather, whose eyes seemed to be drifting aimlessly around the room while his body and face remained numb. I still recall staring at his tanned and wrinkled skin that covered his forearms and showed his veins in painful detail, and at the way he sometimes used his heel to scratch at his other leg.
I suppose it is hard not to notice a kid who has his face turned towards you week after week, year after year. But
I have lost my grandpa and have not gotten over the idea of it. When I was in the sixth grade, my grandfather was very sick; he could barely walk. While my grandmother and some other family members went uptown for some household things, food, and medication, I was told to take care of him. Yet, I wanted to play with my friends outside. He told me to go ahead and play, but for some reason I just got mad and slammed the door and left. Around nighttime, I seen an ambulance pull up to my grandparents’ house.
The screaming and angry comments are made from a personal state of mind. Parents do and go through more than what most teens could imagine. My grandfather was one. My grandfather, Jesse was a strong, emotionally and physically. Apart from all the laughs and smiles, he is one of the most adventurous men Ive ever met. To be realistic, no one's life is perfect with only happiness. In his early years, life was pretty rough for him growing up. His life consisted of hard work. He was only human to manage through such horrible events he had to go through. Such adventures formed my grandpa into the strong man he was.
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.
I never really knew my grandpa as well as I would have liked. He was already an old, old man by the time I started high school, and my own memories of him are mostly of a man confined by age and ailing health. So I'm not really going to talk about my memories of him. Instead, I'm going to try to share his memories and the memories of those that knew him.
The one memory thing really stands out to me after my great grandpa dying, was my appetite. I remember not wanting to eat, and I’m usually always hungry. We ordered delicious pizza from Pizza Shoppe the day after Thanksgiving, and remember my great grandpa died the Wednesday before the face stuffing holiday. However, I didn’t want the pizza, there were too many butterflies in my stomach that I couldn’t fit anymore stuff in my stomach, so I didn’t eat the pizza.
As soon as we finished the job, my uncle went and sat in the front
My grandfather’s body was slumped over on one side of his wheelchair, and I screamed when seeing his face turning purple. A few moment later, my father ran into the house, and he immediately drove my grandfather to the hospital. The doctor told my family that my grandpa only had one week left to live. The next day, my father saw a text from my uncle saying that grandpa has passed away eight o’clock in the morning. My father felt regret since he did not have the chance to see him for the last time. I was overwhelmed and shocked by what my father told me. My legs were shaking, and my heart was pounding faster than the beating drum. It was at that moment my eyes started to become blurry because my tears slowly ran down my cheeks. My grandfather was the most inspiring man that I had ever made in my
Around six to three months before this tragedy occurred, my grandpa’s health had taken a turn for the worst. We would be awake at midnight, hearing him violently vomit crimson colored fluid. He couldn't get up or walk without my mother or grandma’s assistance. A brutal cough would take both his breath and voice away. Yet, he was so understanding and caring of both my brother and I. He would do everything he could to play with me or tell me a story, since he knew that I didn’t know any better. A couple months before his passing, I came home from school to find no one home except my anxious looking aunt and my then three-year old cousin. I remember running to my grandparents’ room to greet my grandparents, but when I opened the door, no one was there. I ran to my aunt and asked her where everyone was. I could see in her face that she was worried, but she tried to be as calm as possible so she wouldn’t scare me.
American society is a complex and growing muscle, one that changes every couple of years, if one looks at society as a whole the only potential way of understanding society is by observing characteristics of an individual’s biography and history. My grandfather, Edwin Richard Constant was brought into American society being born in the District of Columbia, in 1943. At the time of his birth, World War II had just ended and my grandfather had moved back into the NY area where he was brought up in his grandfather’s house on the east side of Brooklyn along with his mother, father, and brother. Having little memory of his surrounding environment, my grandfather had little to say about growing up in Brooklyn. Though a critical aspect of his childhood which would later affect him in sever ways was being plagued by the lost of his brother. Towards the end of World War II, his oldest brother who served as a U.S Navy Medical Corpsman, was killed on the island of Okinawa while being assigned to a fleet of Marine forces. Unlike today’s society much of society at that time held strong ties to the catholic or Christian religion which resulted in my grandfather being raised religious. Every Sunday, my grandfather was brought to the local Episcopal Church trinity in Brooklyn resulting in the development of having an interest in the church’s sense of community later becoming an acolyte, singing for the church as a choir boy. At the time, my grandfather’s prominence in the religious
My Grandpa’s fiance has to be one of the coolest and unique people that I have ever met.
My father showed up to my graduation late missing me walk across the stage receiving my diploma, but I still love him. When I was younger we had a normal father daughter relationship until Valentine’s day of 2009 when he left. My mom left the house and business to get away from their toxic marriage. They soon got a divorce and ever since then he hasn’t been an active reliable father. Years passed, and I was still holding on to hope that he’d someday will re-enter his three-daughter’s life but hope soon vanished when he did not attend anything he should’ve as a father, call to check up on us or send not only monetary support, but support in general. My mother and father had a great relationship I would say before the divorce but of course
Grandpa is almost ninety-five and now resides in a nursing home. The leg he fractured forty years ago is too weak to carry his weight. His eyes are going bad. But to me he's still the big, strong man who used to take his grandchild in his arms and rock to
The crunch of frozen grass could be heard a mile away at five o’clock in the morning. My grandpa and I whispered conversation as we strolled over to our favorite deer blind. We cautiously marched over sticks trying hard not to make any sounds. We eventually made it without spooking any deer and set our guns down, waiting for sunrise. These are the times I enjoy the most with my grandpa. It is a chance to sit back and enjoy life with one of my favorite people on this planet. Time goes slower in these moments. It gives us a chance to share conversation about anything. We swap stories from the past and I always seem to learn something new from my grandpa. Whether it be from advice he gives me or from an experience long ago, I’m always listening. Although our experiences may be different we still love to enjoy the same hobbies together, whether it’s woodworking, hunting, or time out on the lake; sharing life with my grandpa is priceless.
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.
“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.