My Grandfather : The Life Of A Grandfather

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.

through filthy, contaminated water with no help. Yet, how to get to those who needed assistance was going to be a challenge within itself. There was going to have to be a plan for transportation.

and watched it swept away. Then, holding the suitcase, he walked out in the river until there was

The man in black looked at the sight, could it be that after all their efforts that in the end, a sea

On his journey, Macfarlane follows Anne Campbell’s suggestion, an archaeologist, and cartographer, about walking barefoot. He recalls he was able to feel the “changes of habitat underfoot: the different plants that populated each zone according to the available light, and the different temperature of the leaf-litter.”(158) when walking barefoot, as the skin of the foot touches the skin of the land and enjoy the beauty of nature. He also claims that the “resin” under his foot not only cover the memory but also act as “a sampler of the

the river bank and began to look for a boat in which he might carry

He decided to go down and as he went down it got darker and darker and darker.

out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was

“I order you forces of darkness to enter back into this bottle!” he commanded. And as he just finished his words, the dust particles moved and entered into the bottle.

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.

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.

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.

While I was spending this past year in Israel studying, my grandparents decided to come spend a couple months there touring and spending time with their grandchildren who were there. My grandfather always surprises me with new stories beginning with him escaping from the holocaust all the way until coming to the United States and starting a beautiful family. Many of my weekends in Israel while my grandparents were there, were spent going with them to visit different family members and friends living in different cities. In Israel, a lot of people don't have cars because there is an amazing transportation system which is a lot less expensive than owning a car and paying for gas. Being so, while spending my weekends with my grandparents we would take buses to all the places we were going to, some of them being longer bus rides, so my cousin and I would ask our grandfather to tell us any stories he had not told us yet and we would sit there recording and listening to all the stories there were. There would even be times where we would be passing through different places where some of my grandfather's stories took place and he would point them out, which was really cool because we were actually able to see and imagine what he was talking about.

“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.