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Nicholas Liu, 16, and grandmother
Zhang Aizhen, 76, North Carolina
Morning, 1948. Yang Jiang, China. Frosty wind plays with my grandmother's pigtails as she watches her father and uncles plead with her older brother. "Don't go, Bing Qian. What about your family? Who knows what will happen if you go to that alien nation of America?" My grandmother thinks Bing Qian looks like the statement of authority, adorned in his strict black suit and tie; but, in this instance, he gives in to their father. She is happy Bing Qian doesn't take the scholarship. She was ten and too young to lose her brother.
Morning, 1949. "You can't go to school. I'm sorry," her principal says. "Please, stay home today." My grand-mother never saw exactly what happened. All she knew was that her father had been executed and Bing Qian was leaving again. She was the landlord's eleven-year-old daughter, and he was the eldest son. "Don't worry beautiful," Bing Qian had said. "I'll send money and be home soon."
Morning, 1952. News arrives about Bing Qian's death. He had been caught and executed in a neighboring province. My grandmother thinks someone had seen her collecting money Bing Qian had sent from the post office. She stays in her room for a week before reemerging, silent.
Morning, 2010. At last, our two worlds have been united by her words. I listen to the story I never heard, never even dreamed of, my own adversity melting away with the rising sun. Facing a once hostile world, my grandmother sits serenely as frosty winds play with her hair, grayed by her love. I think she looks like the statement of authority, adorned in her casual attire; but, in this instance, she gives in to her tears. I hold her close. Her strength is my strength now. Her morning is my morning.
Sarah Rigert, 11, and grandfriend
Flora Belle Reece, 86, California
SOARING DREAM
In 1941, Pearl Harbor was bombed, a shocking event which caused the United States to join World War II. Early in the war, the US Air Force had a terrible problem. Thousands of new planes needed to be delivered to military bases, but most American pilots were overseas fighting. For the first time, the Air Force taught women to fly. These female pilots were called Women's Air Force Service Pilots (WASPs).
Flora Belle Reece was born on an Oklahoma farm in 1924. She loved God and watching birds soar. Flora Belle always wanted to fly.
In those days, women stayed home; piloting planes was unthinkable! However, her father encouraged her, saying, "Flora Belle, that's not something girls usually do, but if you can find a way, more power to you." Flora Belle trusted that God had a plan for her life.
One day, Flora Belle saw an advertisement in the paper calling for women to serve as Air Force pilots. After completing high school, she left home, traveling to Texas for flight training. As a WASP she tested new planes and delivered them to Air Force bases, bravely helping win the war. Consequently, Flora Belle will soon receive the highest declaration of national gratitude, the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor.
I met Mrs. Flora Belle Reece at a church youth group meeting. She would tell us about the farm, childhood pastimes, and knowing Jesus. After our interview, I considered the advances in women's careers since World War II. Women today can be almost anything – pilots, lawyers, or scientists. I realized how brave Mrs. Reece was to do something new and forever change history by flying as a woman pilot. Her amazing life inspires me to
be like her: achieve my dreams, serve my country, and trust God.
William Dittman Jr., 12, and grandfather
Angelo Santaniello, 85, Connecticut
Sometimes people don't realize the impact a small favor can have on a person's life. But a favor my grandfather did for someone he didn't know ended up having an impact on the lives of everyone in the United States.
The year was 1971, and the phone rang at my grandfather's home in New London, CT. It was from the president of the College of the Holy Cross, the school my grandfather graduated from. The president said there was a young man who needed a job as a law clerk, and nobody would hire him. He had been accepted to Yale Law School, but if he didn't have a job he couldn't attend. He was a young black man from Pin Point, Georgia. My grandfather called a friend who was a lawyer in New Haven and told him about the problem. His friend agreed to hire the young man. So while this man attended Yale Law School, he clerked for my grandfather's friend.
This man was United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He still maintains a friendship with my grandfather. A few years ago he even came to my grandfather's retirement party accompanied by Secret Service agents. I wrote a letter to him last summer for a school assignment about people we admired. He replied, "Your grandfather was very kind to me when I needed help. He is a wonderful man."
I am very proud of both men because my grandfather kindly helped Justice Thomas, and Justice Thomas never forgot my grandfather's willingness to help him. This is a great example of how much a small favor can impact a person's life. You never know who that person may be one day, and how they will impact the lives of others.
Windsor Rose Whitlock, 13, and grandfriend
Ray Doe, 68, Virginia
"I joined the homeless on 8-11-08."
That's one of the first sentences in the last chapter of Ray's "book." I'm sitting on a hard metal chair with styrofoam cups littered throughout the room, reading a story about a homeless man's life. Yet, even though I have only known this man less than a week, I feel like I should have known him forever. There's something in his story that reminds me of myself, and when other people join me to read it, they agree. Ray doesn't use flowery language. He's not a brilliant mastermind, and he never has been. But he sees something in the world I think a lot of other people miss.
When I asked Ray if he could tell me about his life, he gave me a book he had been writing entitled Reflections. In these pages, I found he tells me more about the lives of other homeless adults and caseworkers than about himself. It suddenly came to me that Ray's life was defined by the people around him. He knew he couldn't go it alone, and he filled his reflections with thanks to people who had helped him or made him laugh.
Ray has frequent seizures; he has had them for a very long time. His mother used to take care of him, but when she died he had nowhere to go, and no way of paying for his expensive medication. He moves slowly, and his mind moves even slower, but he knows he has to keep moving forward. And he does, telling stories about friends he has met who got themselves off the streets and pushed him onward while doing so.
Ray reminded me that no one can do anything by himself and that our dreams are inspired by people around us.
Timothy Canty, 13, and grandfriend
Joanne Henry Nielson, 72, California
ONE HUNDRED AND COUNTING
Over one hundred children. Children are Joanne Henry Nielson's passion. The oldest of five children, she treasured her younger siblings. Her parents, Randall and Julia Henry, did not spend their money on things, but on experiences for their children. So, they purchased a
pre-World War I resort, which was dotted with thirteen cabins. Renaming it Henry Point, they turned it into a child's paradise. Joanne spent her childhood building forts, playing kick-the-can, capture the flag, and making sand castles along the Hayden Lake shores.
While she insisted she wanted to become an artist and live in Paris, what she truly desired was to be a mother and raise many children. And so she did. She married and raised five children. After her children had grown, she missed the joy of being surrounded by children and she often mused about becoming a foster parent. Thankfully, her son challenged her to the task.
She began by taking care of older children, but eventually she found that she preferred caring for infants. She especially welcomed premature babies, those with drug addictions, or infants with handicaps. She seemed to have a magical way with even the fussiest of babies.
The laughter is again heard along the shores of Hayden Lake. Joanne has transformed one of those old cabins into a magical cottage that echoes with laughter and overlooks children making sand castles and playing beside the lake. Gracing her hallway are pictures of each child – over one hundred children.
How do I know her? I am one of the hundred. Born two months prematurely and not expected to walk, talk, or ever live independently, I was lovingly and tenderly cared for by Nana Joanne. She was my sanctuary and refuge – and of the one hundred, I am most blessed.
Tanner Kyle Albert, 8, and grandfather
Robert Brenner, 65, Pennsylvania
PERSEVERANCE PAYS OFF
Ocean City, Camp Tuckahoe, Camel Beach at the Poconos, Niagara Falls, Virginia Beach, Appalachian Camp, Williamsburg, Disney World. These are family vacations that I took all before I was even eight years old! Yet, I was surprised that my grandpa never took a single vacation during his childhood. My grandpa, Robert Brenner, was born into a struggling family, but conquered hardships to reach his dream.
First off, my grandpa was energetic and somewhat mischievous like Tom Sawyer. He and his six siblings were quite a handful for his mother who was left to raise the children alone. She worked at a bakery, but with so many children, the pay did not stretch very far. Certainly, buying food and clothing and paying bills for seven children made it impossible to go on vacation. However, my grandpa learned that he did not want to worry about money when he grew up.
So, as soon as he was old enough, he enlisted in the Navy and, after he served his military duty, he secured a decent civilian job working at a Navy warehouse. With this career, he began to gain a feeling of financial security. Also, during his adult years, he enjoyed working in the yard, hunting, and my favorite, fishing.
Now, in his senior years of life, he is most proud of raising his family, paying off his home mortgage, and being able to retire early, something his mother never had the chance to do.
Having the opportunity to talk to my grandpa has made me think about my future. Even if he is not around when
I get my first paycheck, I will think of him and how he persevered in life to reach a simple dream, but a dream all the same.
Kristen Alcala, 14, and grandmother
Connie Alcala, 57, Indiana
ADVICE FROM THE WISE
My grandmother, Connie Alcala, has given me so much advice over the years. Most of her advice for me had to do with boys.
My grandmother was beautiful when she was my age. Down in Mexico, when a girl turns fifteen, she is considered an adult and can get married. Until she was fifteen, my grandmother had to wear big goofy dresses from the fifties. She always felt that this was unfair since the style was miniskirts at the time.
When she could finally wear the clothes that she wanted to wear, she started to get noticed by boys. After she started dating, she realized that not all the boys that told her they loved her really meant it. After experiencing a few sour relationships, she started to change. She began to wear clothes and jewelry that made her look refined and ladylike.
She told me that she did this to let the boys know that she was not a trophy. She was a woman and expected to be treated like a lady. "Treat yourself like a precious jewel. If the guys are not willing to treat you like a lady, then they aren't worth it. If they are willing to wait and love you for you, then you know when you have the right one." This was her advice to me for when I get old enough to date.
I think of her advice every day. I treasure everything
she says because I know that she's been through it all. Even though she says she is far from understanding boys, she says that a little advice never hurts. I love my grandmother and everything she's done for me, including sharing her wisdom and experience with me.
Samantha Kelley, 17, and grandmother
Rosemary Richards, 64, Michigan
"Einstein was my hero. He wasn't the best student,
but he was a brilliant man."
It was an understandable statement from someone born in the aftermath of the Second World War. In those days, society did not stress the importance of education. People never thought of a career or college – especially women.
My grandmother contradicts the norm. She believes you need to continue to learn until nothing is left of you. Life is not sequential blocks. Math, history, and science are all interdependent. Further, learning equals numerous connections. Learning never stops; even in your sleep, you process ideas. Each bit of knowledge crosses synapses to attain greatness.
One regret my grandmother has is not traveling overseas. While books are intriguing, travel brings new experiences. Outside the classroom, there is an entirely different side to education. One cannot experience things in class behind a small cramped desk. There is a world out there beyond the pictures in textbooks.
Although her traveling days are over, my grandmother transcends her environment by reading, especially her book of quotes. She uses them all the time in conversation, from Shakespeare to the presidents. Therefore, it is whether you regret your mistakes that counts.
I share the quality of persistence with my grandmother. As she stated, "I'm a 'get it done' kind of person. I
always had a 'don't stop until you get it done' kind of stubbornness." This stubbornness has assured that I will continue my education, along with finding ways to fund it.
I too have a poster of Einstein to hang above my desk, motivating me to learn until there is nothing left of me.
Josephine Grant, 15, and grandmother
Lucille Frazita, 80, Maryland
A woman with no dreams, my grandmother, Lucille Frazita, felt her place and purpose in life were to raise a good family. When young, attending Sunday family gatherings, to current summers she spends with children and grandchildren, family has always been her life. She says, "Family is all you leave when you go."
After being class valedictorian, she found a job, met her husband, married, and at twenty-three, faced her first challenge. With six month-old twins, one almost died with a disease no one had ever survived; thankfully, he did.
At thirty-eight, she faced another challenge: her husband started having heart attacks, becoming very sick. She cared for him, her children, and her mother throughout much of her life.
Instead of thinking of being successful herself, she thought of her children and grandchildren being successful; that was her dream, although she did not realize it. She knows the importance of spending every second she can with family. This was another dream reached… even if she "had no dreams." When asked what her concern was for the future, how do you think she replied? She hoped the future would get better for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
I kept asking questions about her dreams throughout her life. Repeatedly, she would respond, "I didn't have any."
I kept thinking that I was not getting needed answers.
I thought I would miss the important components of this essay; she was not providing information about wishes and goals. Then, I realized, I DID get needed information: her motivations and experiences were her family.
My grandma had no dreams, no hopes. All she did her whole life was work to meet the goal that she did not realize was her REAL DREAM – being a mother of four, grandmother of twelve, and soon, great-grandmother of five.
Bridgette Long, 9, and grandmother
Lenna Long, 76, Nevada
My grandmother has 10 college degrees! Actually she has five children who have all earned their college degrees, including a math professor, electrical engineering professor, emergency doctor, electrical contractor, and management supervisor in business.
A few years ago they gave her "a PhD" which stood for "all progeny have degrees." She always wanted to complete a college degree, but her five children, church work, and service to others always came first. They gave her an honorary PhD because she has sacrificed so much for them so they could achieve their goals in life.
She worked hard cleaning houses and was a scrubber janitor to pay for their college. She became self-educated through books and loves to read, even when her eyes are growing dim. They never had a lot of money with five children, but they did have a lot of love. She told me that I come from a legacy of sacrifice and love for learning. My great-grandparents left Scotland and England to find a better life in America where education and freedom would be found. They rode ships across angry seas, slept in cold tents and pushed handcarts across the muddy plains of America so their children and descendants would have a peaceful home of opportunity.
I'm so proud of my grandmother for teaching her children and grandchildren how important sacrifice and hard work is to achieve your education and goals. She is leaving a legacy of love to us.
It's my dream to be the kind of woman that she is.
Parker Hawk, 11, and grandmother
Josephine Kneisley, 71, Ohio
PAINTING OF A LIFETIME
My grandma was, and still is, an artist. My Nanni Kneisley, now 71 years of age, was born on August 16th, 1939. When she was born, her life was a blank canvas.
A little bit later, when she was a child, a dab of yellow appeared like the sun that peeked into her room in the morning or her pet goldfish that she loved dearly. She loved checkers, drawing, and painting too. In first grade, she met her future husband, Bob. Back then they didn't like each other; they were just classmates.
When she got older, there was green. Like the walls of Notre Dame Academy, the school that she attended. Then she got a job! She worked for four years at a bakery. Later, she drew ads for the Yellow Book. She accomplished her goal of having a career in art by studying hard in high school. After her children were grown, Nanni worked part-time. She had many jobs, including marketing surveys, flower arranger, and then for a pasta company. She also worked for a food broker and sold cheese and other food items for 15 years. During this time she also sold cheese for another company. The reason she got all these jobs is because she was a good worker and the other companies asked her to work for them. More colors were added to her palette with all of her jobs.
When she married Grandpa, a whole new shade of blue appeared. Nanni and Grandpa bought a boat and started sailing. They had three kids and four grandkids.
Now she is old, but Nanni and Grandpa are still my favorite grandparents! She doesn't remember a lot of black or difficult times.
Nanni adds new colors to her palette every day.
Madison Hemler, 12, and great-grandmother
Retha Daley, 99, Pennsylvania
"WORK, WORK, WORK"
If you could tell the current generation anything, what would it be? "Oh my… work, work, work." was the answer. Working hard is what my great-grandmother, Grammy Daley, has spent the past 100 years doing.
In 1922, at the ripe age of 12, she went to work capping strawberries for 2 cents a quart. One thing is for sure, I won't overlook a penny on the ground ever again. A few years later she became a nanny for a woman down her road. She had to be a live-in nanny because it was too far to walk back and forth every day. She told me a story of how she cried on her sixteenth birthday because the family she was working for didn't know it was her birthday.
My great-grandpap, who I never had the chance to meet, and Grammy got married in 1929. She wore a gunmetal gown that cost eight dollars. They moved into "the old wagon shed" as my Grammy refers to it. That was also where they kept the farm equipment. She draped the inside with newspaper to keep out the snow, wind, and rain.
In 1932, they built a farm house, and a few years later they started a peach orchard. They worked all day, every day, in the peach orchard. She told me that it took seven years to get their first peach. They did "observe the Sabbath" Grammy said, but "Thanksgiving was just another work day."
She is only two months away from turning 100, and would call herself "healthy." She lives in their original two-story farm house by herself, still cooks her own meals, washes her own clothes in a ringer washer – and plays a mean game of Skip-Bo!
Kelly Carlson, 16, and grandfather
Freeman Johansen, 82, Minnesota
My grandpa, Freeman Johansen, grew up as a first generation American in 1930s Minnesota. His parents were Norwegian immigrants who couldn't speak English. Throughout his life there was one thing that helped him overcome the many obstacles he faced: love.
He met Kathleen Fox when he was seventeen, and five years later they were married. They faced their first obstacle as a married couple when they moved to California where Freeman trained as a Marine at Camp Pendleton. He was shipped overseas during the Korean War. Though thousands of miles separated them, their love grew like a blooming rosebud. It fully opened the day he came back to her, holding his duffel bag and possibilities.
Seventy years later, he faced his toughest challenge when my Grandma Kay died this past November after battling Alzheimer's for eight years. He took care of her at home for five long years. When he finally placed her in a nursing home, he was there every day to feed her lunch. Even when she forgot his name or who he was, he was there. It takes an incredible person to do that. He was there when she died. At the memorial, I saw exactly how much he loved her. The tears he shed spoke the words he couldn't; he loved her with his whole heart.
Now he's moving on. He rescued a dog from the animal shelter he volunteers at. He plays cribbage on Thursdays. He lives his life. He's overcome another obstacle through love.
Love is the backbone of life. It drives people to do crazy things. It gets you through the toughest times of your life. It got my grandfather through some extremely hard times. His greatest advice to me is to "love with your whole heart; after all, that's why it's there."
Shaun Moran, 17, and grandfriend
Ed Koch, 85, New Jersey
Many people are admired for the public services they offer: police officers, doctors, firemen, soldiers and hosts of other celebrated heroes. One particular position of public service often isn't admired: the politician. It's true that a politician is a public servant, yet they are often shunted aside as the dregs of society, slinging their opponents with mud and doing anything to win a vote.
However, this isn't true – certainly not with Edward Koch. Since his youth, Koch longed to become a lawyer, carrying that dear ambition through his college graduation. Koch postponed that dream, instead joining the armed forces and becoming a sergeant during WWII, beginning his career as an admired public servant. Koch put the defense of his country before his own desires, but would never have abandoned his wish to become a lawyer. Koch's most defining characteristic: "Persistence. I never stop." After the war, he became a practicing attorney before entering politics.
Koch says he "found [his] place in life by serving New York City" as mayor – though the job of a public servant is not all ribbon-cutting and hand-shaking. Koch admits to several "frustrations," namely "not accomplishing all I wanted to." Some duties were particularly difficult.
"The part I like least was going to the funeral of cops killed in the line of duty." In 1987, five on-duty NYPD officers were killed, only one of the twelve years that Koch spent as mayor.
To Koch, the way to define success is through satisfaction, and he can certainly claim satisfaction.
"I have had it all," he says, looking back on his life.
Koch says his "dreams and goals have remained the same" throughout that life, and all those dreams and goals have been met, whether as soldier, lawyer, or public servant.
Scott Remer, 16, and great-aunt
Rose Green, 93, Ohio
Historian Stephen Ambrose called the Holocaust "the most evil crime ever committed." During this time of unparalleled privation, my great-aunt Rose was wrenched away from her loving family. But she made the best of a terrible situation, behaving stoically, even on the brink of death.
When she reminisces, she is remarkably tranquil. Though forced to work grueling twelve-hour days while pregnant, with hunger shrinking her to a ninety-pound shell, her chief complaint was that it was "filthy" – there were no toothbrushes or toilet paper. "Hunger," she steadfastly maintains, "[was] terrible, but you got so hungry, you couldn't even feel it."
This fortitude and acceptance of hardship is something that defined her entire life. Before the Holocaust, her mother fell ill. So, at eighteen, she cut her education short to take care of the family and underwent a direct blood transfusion without complaint to save her mother. When she reflects on her mother's fate in the gas chambers, she is resigned, saying, "Life is life – what can you do?"
Although she endured travails that killed many, she says her experience "wasn't so terrible." After the Holocaust, still frail, she persevered and gave birth to my cousin Ivan. When she and her husband reunited, he hugged her fiercely and wouldn't release her. Despite the unimaginable horrors she suffered, she displayed a resilient sense of humor, exclaiming, "I survived the camps, but I'm not going to survive you!"
Today, this noble, unassuming woman calls her philosophy simple, declaring, "Be good to each other, for goodness' sakes!" However, as subsequent wars have proved, this doctrine is anything but simple. While she isn't famous, her quiet strength and gentle goodness prove that the Nazis lost – human dignity overcame their inhumanity.
Theresa Gao, 12, and grandfather
Gao Si Zai, 75, California
THE POWER OF A LETTER
It all simply started with a letter. A letter that traveled 10,000 kilometers to spark new beginnings, relive nostalgic memories, and tell of stories that warm the coldest hearts.
I haven't sat down and talked with my grandfather in many years, since our language differences make any means of communication hard. And when I really did, through our letters, I discovered a story long hidden in a witty old man filled with the strength and courage that is simply amazing.
Gao Si Zai, my dear grandfather, used to be a naïve boy who recklessly dreamed of a better life, a boy who played marbles with his friends, and always came home with scabbed knees. But in 1949, when Communism rocked China, the life he knew before was somehow ripped away, and changed forever.
"They promised us everything, I remember. With smooth words silky like glass. And then, everything just turned simple. Life was a little better, but everyone was equal, and everyone just became lazy," he wrote.
For 30 years, natural disasters rocked the country, leaving behind orphans, deserted homes, and ownerless teddy bears. China soon fell into chaos, and was a very weak country.
He soon found himself trying to remember when every-thing was fine. His dreams changed then, and all he wanted was for it to stop and everything to become peaceful again.
"It was amazing how much everything going around me could change my wishes and hopes," he remembers with amusement.
And through hardships that will always be imprinted in
his mind, disaster that rudely awakened him, and the strength that has kept him alive, my grandpa stands stronger than ever in Hangzhou, China. He is wiser, and content, for finally it is peaceful – and that is all my grandfather ever wanted.
Caroline Hewett, 14, and grandfather
Paul Dahan, 83, New Jersey
Since early childhood, my grandpa knew he wanted to work with ships.
When he was seven years old, his father took him to a harbor in Alexandria, Egypt, on the Mediterranean Sea. Looking at the ships from the front, he noticed both sides were the same. He was fascinated by this. The ship's lines and majestic beauty mesmerized him. He knew ships and the sea were his destiny. He wanted to learn everything about how ships were built.
After high school, he joined the Merchant Marines so he could go to sea. He loved working on ships, but his passion and desire was to build them. At night, when the crewmen were asleep, my grandpa would sneak into the captain's office and study the drawings of the ship. He left the Merchant Marines to study naval architecture at the University of Michigan. He got his degree and began his career designing oil tankers.
"I invented the double bottom tanker," said my grandpa. "A double bottom gives an oil tanker an extra skin and air pocket to protect the tanks so, should the ship collide, less oil will spill," he explained.
He invented it after the Torrey Canyon, one of the world's first supertankers, spilled 30 million gallons of oil in the English Channel on March 18, 1967. He received United States and international patents for his invention.
My grandfather became vice president of shipping and transportation for Mobil Oil Corporation. He traveled to shipyards around the world where the tankers he designed were built.
After the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, my grandfather was awarded another patent for inventing a way to retrofit single-skin tankers with a double hull for extra protection around the sides and bottom.
Sometimes the simplest thing from childhood leads to a brilliant career.
Alston Clark ,13, and great-granduncle
Granville Coggs, 85, Maryland
FLYING HIGH
When I was 11 years old, I watched a movie about the Tuskegee Airmen. As a result of that movie, I began to read books about them. One day I was telling my mom about my fascination with the Tuskegee Airmen and she told me about my great-granduncle Granville who is an original Tuskegee Airman.
A year passed and Uncle Granville came to stay with us for a few weeks. I began to ask him questions about his life. I learned more than just an amazing military story.
I learned that it does not matter where one starts in life; however, it matters where one ends up.
Uncle Granville was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas in 1925. As a child he had a bad case of asthma; in fact, he used to try to grab air with his hands and shove it in his mouth to help him breathe. After high school, he wanted to become an engineer and attend MIT; however, his test scores would not allow him. He decided to volunteer with the all-black combat unit of the US Army Air Corps and became a Tuskegee Airman.
When he began to fly a one man fighter plane, he remembered the noisy but reliable drone of that twin engine and the challenge of learning to operate such a complex and potentially lethal machine. Once he finished training, it was too late to enter the war because the war ended. Since the war was over, he was able to go to the University of Nebraska and to Harvard medical school on the GI Bill.
Uncle Granville's life is a living tribute to hard work and determination. The more we listen to stories like his,
the more we will be inspired to press toward our goals.
Kelly Shalosky, 13, and grandfather
Vaughn McGlasson, 66, Michigan
DEATH CHANGES EVERYTHING
Death. Nobody really knows what it is like to die. We can only predict what might happen. Most people who die stay dead. My Grandpa Boots is an exception.
Grandpa has died and is still here to tell his story. He used to let life pass him by – always rushing and never stopping to smell the flowers. Little did he know that when he came into work that morning, it would change his life forever.
My grandpa was a man with many talents, like being a carpenter and mechanic. This particular job, he was fixing a roof. In the middle of the process he needed more tools. So, he climbed down the ladder to retrieve them, not knowing that one of his fellow workers plugged his circular saw cord into an unsafe outlet. It was raining heavily; my grandpa ended up stepping into a puddle. Suddenly, he was being electrocuted. His fellow worker saw him, pulled him out of the puddle, and called 911. Other workers also saw what happened and started doing CPR on him. My grandpa was dead for about five minutes. What happened when he died is still unclear to him.
Dying changed my grandpa's life. He now views life differently. He no longer rushes through life. Now he cherishes the wonderful beauty of being alive.
My grandpa still fixes roofs, but with a new twinkle in his eye. In some weird, twisted way, being electrocuted was the best thing that ever happened to him. Yet dying is still a mystery to him and many others.
My grandpa has inspired me to make every second matter and to live my life to the fullest. This is why I'm glad I listened to a life.
Kathryn Petersen, 11, and grandfather
Thomas Petersen, 73, Indiana
WHAT'S INSIDE A SAINT'S POCKET?
"When a pickpocket meets a saint, all he sees are pockets."
This quote is very important to my grandfather, Tom Petersen, or Grampy as I refer to him. Grampy's dreams and goals are best described by this quote. His goal is not an easy one to describe. It is not an achievement like climbing a mountain, earning a degree, or making your first million. His goal is simply to understand people; to see "the saint" beyond the pockets.
Everyone wants to be understood and appreciated. Grampy's dream is to simply understand others. This is not an easy goal to achieve. Grampy's life has been a search for a deeper understanding of life and the people in it. He decided to be a priest so he could be among other priests who knew the answer to understanding one's life. After three years in the seminary, Grampy realized that this was not the solution he was looking for. He went back to graduate school and studied to become a counselor. At this point Grampy was getting closer to his solution.
One of the best compliments he has ever received is when his clients say, "You're different." He appreciates this because it means he understands their lives better than other therapists. He continued counseling.
When Grampy started practicing Zen and meditating, he also learned that everything is connected. He began to see "the saint" in everyone.
Everyone is unique and has different dreams. They also have different ways of finding happiness and achieving those dreams. Grampy's advice is that with help and support to find it, happiness can be realized from within the self.
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