My grandfather
I was watching The Godfather on TNN today. It was uncut, which means that it was about 3 hours long and of course that also means that I spent 3 hours not doing homework. Towards the end of the movie (SPOILER WARNING DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE GODFATHER) Marlon Brando's character dies while playing with his grandson. When I first saw the movie I teared up (yea yea call me a girl whatever). Anyways it reminded me of my grandfather on my Dad's side. He wasn't nearly tall as my dad, and he had to use a cane because he had broken his hip. He walked with a limp. Anyways he was really proud of my dad. He never admitted it but I could tell. My dad had made it in America, where none of his brothers or sisters had been able to. He always loved visiting us because he liked the wide open spaces, the quiet of american suburbia, the pathway in the woods where he took a walk twice a day, and of course his wonderful grandsons (haha...of course).
Anyways I always saw him as a sage. He was the one man that I ever heard my dad describe as "smarter than I am." Although I find it hard to believe that anyone is smarter than my dad (im sure they exist but whatever), hearing my dad say that gave my grandfather that much more of a wiseness aura. My grandfather taught me about where the moss grows on trees (north in Buffalo where we lived) and how to tell the tip of your hair from the base of it, after it had fallen off of your head, and other such things. I remember he insisted on buying me a notre dame cap (he had a lot of pride in his limited english but because of my dad he knew that i liked college football). I was a huge Michigan fan then, but my grandpa didn't know, all he knew was Notre Dame because he had asked my uncle about a good american college football team and all my uncle knew was Notre Dame. He seemed so happy on buying me this cap that I didn't have the heart to tell him about michigan. I hid my other hat in the closet and went with him to the mall.
When I first started 9th grade, my grandfather died. I never got to go to his funeral, and I never got to say goodbye until a few years later when I visited his grave. I wore the hat as I hiked up the several hills to where my grandfather was buried. I was thinking if leaving the cap there, but I didn't because I knew that if I did, I would have almost nothing to remember him by.
How does a movie about an Italian family remind a Korean teen about his grandfather? The magic of storytelling I guess. I really miss having my grandparents around, and I REALLY wish that I lived closer to all my relatives (they are fantastic people). All you people out there with family close by, you don't know how good you have it. Whenever I hear stories about that crazy uncle or your gossipy aunt, I still feel jealous.
Anyways I always saw him as a sage. He was the one man that I ever heard my dad describe as "smarter than I am." Although I find it hard to believe that anyone is smarter than my dad (im sure they exist but whatever), hearing my dad say that gave my grandfather that much more of a wiseness aura. My grandfather taught me about where the moss grows on trees (north in Buffalo where we lived) and how to tell the tip of your hair from the base of it, after it had fallen off of your head, and other such things. I remember he insisted on buying me a notre dame cap (he had a lot of pride in his limited english but because of my dad he knew that i liked college football). I was a huge Michigan fan then, but my grandpa didn't know, all he knew was Notre Dame because he had asked my uncle about a good american college football team and all my uncle knew was Notre Dame. He seemed so happy on buying me this cap that I didn't have the heart to tell him about michigan. I hid my other hat in the closet and went with him to the mall.
When I first started 9th grade, my grandfather died. I never got to go to his funeral, and I never got to say goodbye until a few years later when I visited his grave. I wore the hat as I hiked up the several hills to where my grandfather was buried. I was thinking if leaving the cap there, but I didn't because I knew that if I did, I would have almost nothing to remember him by.
How does a movie about an Italian family remind a Korean teen about his grandfather? The magic of storytelling I guess. I really miss having my grandparents around, and I REALLY wish that I lived closer to all my relatives (they are fantastic people). All you people out there with family close by, you don't know how good you have it. Whenever I hear stories about that crazy uncle or your gossipy aunt, I still feel jealous.