Grandpa example essay topic

I do not have any fascinating memories of my childhood. There were no unique family projects or adventures that would tell a great story or teach some sort of moral lesson. Nothing out of the ordinary. We always had family meals together, during which a lot of interesting topics were brought up and discussed in details.

That is why our regular family meals would usually take two hours to finish. Yet, most of the time, my parents and I lived in two different worlds. I was expected to go to school, do my homework, and play while my parents worked. Fortunately, I was lucky. When I wanted to experience a little of both worlds, I could always turn to one person - my grandfather. I still remember every summer spent in his house.

Together we went fishing and sometimes even camping if the weather allowed. I remember once we caught a bunch of small fish and decided to feed our dog with it. Sometimes, if some good soccer teams played at our city's stadium, he would take me there to see it. I was not just a kid to him; I was "A gift from God" as he used to say. To my grandpa I was a very special person, just as he was to me. There was one thing that was rather funny to me.

Grandpa had a favorite saying that he would reply with when asked where he was going. He would say "Na kudikinu go ru", which roughly translates "going to some mountain", which really meant "none of your business". The reason it was funny is because I have never heard anyone use that same phrase. Nicholas was a big, energetic man with a twinkle in his eyes and a few gray locks of hair.

He stood six feet three inches and weighed over two hundred pounds. He carried himself with respect and self-esteem. He was a good man and a lot of his friends and other people he knew respected him for that. Even those who did not know him could easily notice his patience and strength. Grandpa has done so much for our family and other people, that I must keep him in my memories and be thankful and grateful to him.

His works were his soul. Unfortunately, grandfather was born at the time when the Russian economy was established on theft and greed. It was in the 1930's. Everyone had to come up with something in order to survive this terrible time. Grandpa was not a scholar, because he had to quit school after 3rd grade to help his father bring some food to the table. He went to the army when he was 17 and after 4 years of service was able to get a job as a locomotive operator.

He kept that job all the way up to his retirement. When I was with my grandpa, I could see things through grown-up eyes. Day-by-day, minute-by-minute, grandpa was opening the world to me. The things I learned from him I am sure one cannot learn from any of the great books in the best libraries. Everything that he said had some kind of symbolism or a valuable meaning hidden in it.

I finally saw the beauty of things around me. At one time a tree was a tree, but when grandpa pointed it out and told me that God had a purpose for it in this world, I knew that a hundred-year-old tree standing in front of a fancy house was much more beautiful. Those little things that he taught me made everything more valuable and meaningful once and for all. Grandpa taught me to love, cherish and appreciate everything that I work for.

This man showed me the way to reach my goals without falling back down to the start. He did not tell me how to win. In fact, he showed me how to win by teaching me to lose. Whenever I had a problem or a question that I felt asking him about, he would listen to my feelings - not my words. One day I fell out of the swing and hurt my knee. I ran back home.

When grandpa saw me, he sat me down and let me talk. In tears I told him what happened and from that moment I knew that everything was going to be fine. Grandpa could understand me like nobody else could. Surprisingly, there was a tougher side to Grandpa. There was a man who basically saved and protected his family during the World War II, while his father had been seriously wounded in the chest and was unable to move. Later, his home was robbed twice by the same person.

He reported it to the police without any luck, so he finally waited for the man to do it again and shot him dead as he was trying to climb through the window during the night. Also, grandpa spent a couple of months in the hospital recovering from a set of serious injuries received after a car accident. Unfortunately those injuries never faded away, and remained leaving fractures and scars that kept reminding of their presence from time-to-time. Because of these events, which put him face-to-face with death, he appreciated every moment of his life. Grandpa lived to be only sixty-seven. His life suddenly ended not long after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

In 1997, I was 12, and we knew he would die soon. Still, I was not prepared for his death. Even though he was still with us, I already missed his smile because of the great deal of pain hidden behind it. God took him away from his loved ones way before his time, leaving each of us with a hole in our lives that nothing can fill.

It is often in life that you do not learn how to fully appreciate something until it is gone. I am happy to know that this is not the case with my grandpa. I valued every moment that I have spent with him and I never felt regret since his death. My grandfather may be gone, but he left me with memories I can draw inspiration from. He left me a place I can go back to in my mind - his home. In a way, he never really left.