Legend
Posted on: 11/8/2021
There’s no doubt that I’m my grandpa’s favorite. He has never said it, but everyone else has. I’m his oldest grandchild and the one he spent the most time taking care of. I was born when he was still in his prime and exhilarated to finally have a grandchild. I basically lived with my grandparents the first three years of my life because Mom and Dad worked all day and I couldn’t go to kindergarten yet.
There are stories my family deems “legendary” about me when I was little, and somehow my grandpa has an appearance in most of them.
Legend says that when I was a toddler, my favorite thing to do was stand from the second floor and throw objects down onto the first floor. I would find it rather fascinating. Objects would vary, but glass cups and my grandpa’s expensive watch were only a few of my victims. I would always find a time when no one was looking to do it, and I couldn’t stop laughing when glasses dropped and shattered everywhere. My grandpa would get upset, but he eventually came to accept the inevitable. He never scolded me.
Legend says that when I was a toddler I loved going to bookstores. Since my grandparents lived in a University area, my grandpa would put me on a stroller and push me around. Most afternoons, we would go into a bookstore for me to look at books and say hi to my retail friends. He was the one who introduced me to my first books, a thing later in life bloomed into a passion of mine.
Legend says that grandpa taught me how to recite my first poem. He participated in what is known as the Viet Nam War in the U.S and his poems were proudly about the war he fought and the victory our country earned. He would read me poem after poem and sing me song after song about the heroic and the brave who shed blood to protect our home land. Then, he would turn poetry into songs, singing it in an upbeat, triumphant rhythm. Legend says one day when I was around two, I started to pick it up and sing the poems in a upbeat, triumphant rhythm. That surprised everyone, but not my grandpa. He would teach me more complicated songs and more poems until I filled the house with off-key triumphant singing. He poured into me a stream of patriotism that I can’t seem to find anywhere else or from anyone else.
Legend says that no one takes more pride in me than my grandpa. No one would look at my with such approving eyes when I accomplish anything and with such understanding eyes when I fail to do just that. My grandpa is notorious with being strict, especially kids, but he spoiled me, showered me with love and without judgment. He took me everywhere when I was a kid; and he patiently waited downstairs to take me to English classes when I became this grumpy unpunctual teenager. Legend says that I’m the only one he would make time and effort to listen to in a clashing argument because he values my thoughts and feelings more than anything else. When I introduced him to something new, he would take time researching about it, then thank me for opening his eyes. This man is in his 70s, has fought a war, came back, and has gained all the wisdom in the world, yet he randomly tells me what my view of the world is thoughtful and extraordinary.
Legend also says that when I flew half of the world in seek of a number one claimed education, I started to grow apart from my family and my grandpa. Distance indeed makes it difficult, but my lack of effort is mainly to blame. I hardly call my grandparents, and everytime I do I talk to them very briefly. My grandpa always keep it short with a “how are you?” and a “have you gotten enough sleep lately?”.
I can’t think of a little pretty bow to tie this story into a lovely little memoir. Saying that I love, respect, and look up to my grandpa simply isn’t enough. He reminds me of Home and for that I am forever grateful.
Previous post Next post