I believe that hard work and determination can get you anywhere in this world. As a boy I was always the lazy type and didn’t really want to do anything at all. Every summer I would go on a trip to my grandparent’s house in Kentucky. I would always be really skeptical about going because when I was out there they would always have me doing yard work or other things around the house. It seemed that every summer I would go out there and always learn something new and interesting.
My grandfather was a very wise man who had great morals and knew what he wanted in his life. He was the type of man that if I was lazy at his house he would get onto me about it. From then on I learned to get up at seven instead of noon because I knew what was coming from him if I got up late. Every summer I would visit him he had me changing all the liquids in his car, running errands, and mowing his grass. As a young boy I never really understood why he was making me do all of this work.
As I grew older and got a bit wiser and he taught me life lessons. He would always say to me “Brandon if you work hard and are a determined person then one day you will accomplish great things”. He would teach me many things about life and many things about being a hard worker. He told me as a young man he could barely afford to live he was so poor. But he put his mind to getting a better life for him and his family.
The one summer that I wasn’t out there he would call me everyday and ask me if I was working. He wanted to know how I was doing and wanted to know everything that happened that day when I was at work. He would always end the phone conversation saying “Keep your mind open and work hard and you will accomplish many great things”. I always knew he cared about my life and about me as a person.
Later on in life he started to become ill and was put into the hospital. I would try to come visit him during the summer as much as I could. I would see him in that hospital bed looking so helpless and emotionless. I remember sitting next to his bed holding his hand and him telling me never give up Brandon never give up in life. One week after that conversation with him he past away of a major heart attack in the hospital. From then on the words he told me to never give up have been my motto. I always think about what he has accomplished in his life when I want to give up on everything.
I now know that giving up in life will get you nowhere at all. I learned from every summer going to visit my grandfather to be a hard worker in life and to be determined. I now understand why he had me doing all those errands for him. It was to make me a better person and to teach me to be a stronger individual. Everyday of my life I think about him and what he has taught me. I think about all the goods times and laughter we shared together. But now that he has gone to a better place I can’t be dependent on him. Instead I have to depend on myself to get me through hard times and teach myself to never ever give up in life.