I always was competitive. My biggest one was being treated no different than the brothers. If they could do it, I could do it also. I was determined and hard headed. The girl my grandmother tried to create, wandered off following the guys on everything they did. If they expected my brother to swing an axe and split wood, I swung that axe and split it to their dismay.If they lifted a fifty pound piece of wood, I lifted a fifty one pound one. I was determined I would not be left behind to clean house and not experience other things.
The outdoors is where I found myself and found peace.
My brother trapped and brought animals home and I stood right at his side, to his disgust, asking a million questions and begging to help him. I believe that I was allowed to do a lot of the things, simply because I was so damn annoying. To this day, I remember what a beaver and a mink smells like as they were skinned.
Fishing, that was another issue..I liked fishing and they liked not taking me along. I would argue, fight, and cry till I got sick and finally they gave in and allowed me to go.
I would walk through water, mud, bugs, just to be able to sit beside them and cast a line. Catfish, bass, white perch, bony ass brim..
Some things I did because I had to, it was required to assist the family from year to year. I gave a 100% to all that I did.
My grandfather was raised by a single mother with two sisters. He had to drop out of school to come home to help his mother at a young age, so school was important to him for his kids. Including me. I was the baby and although I was his granddaughter by blood, he adopted me at 18 months old and raised me as his daughter.
My senior year, I did not work like the rest of the seniors. It would have affected what little money they got and it was the same reason I did not get my driver's license. I was always conscious of what would help them and what would not help them. So I earned money on the side that paid for my wants and covered at least 85% of my senior year.
One day, at school, the office paged me over the intercom that someone was there to pick me up to go home. That never happened. When I walked in the office, my heart froze in mid-beat. My grandfather stood at the counter, not speaking, waiting on me. Something was wrong! Never in all my life had he ever picked me up from school. I was terrified. What happened?
He was never much of a person to talk. He was quiet. When he said something, you never forgot it though. He was not the type to waste words, and I remained quiet. We walked out and got into the old ford truck that I learned to drive in. This man sitting beside me was the same one that taught me how to drive and he also taught me how to cook.
We left the school and after driving a few miles, I noticed that we were not heading home. Still I could not bring myself to say anything. Soon he pulled over on the side of the road and got out of the truck. I got out and went to the back of the truck where he was leaning over to grab something out of the back. He pulled out a five gallon bucket, a tackle box, the minnow bucket and two poles. Handing me a pole and the minnow bucket, he turned and made his way to the fishing spot he picked. He never said a word, neither did I. This was a moment I would never forget.
Many years later, he was to sick to fish like he did. I got permission to go fishing at a cousin's pond. I was allowed to drive up to the pond so that he could fish without having to walk more than a few feet. I did this for him as often as I could, until he passed away.
The outdoors is where I found myself and found peace.
My brother trapped and brought animals home and I stood right at his side, to his disgust, asking a million questions and begging to help him. I believe that I was allowed to do a lot of the things, simply because I was so damn annoying. To this day, I remember what a beaver and a mink smells like as they were skinned.
Fishing, that was another issue..I liked fishing and they liked not taking me along. I would argue, fight, and cry till I got sick and finally they gave in and allowed me to go.
I would walk through water, mud, bugs, just to be able to sit beside them and cast a line. Catfish, bass, white perch, bony ass brim..
Some things I did because I had to, it was required to assist the family from year to year. I gave a 100% to all that I did.
My grandfather was raised by a single mother with two sisters. He had to drop out of school to come home to help his mother at a young age, so school was important to him for his kids. Including me. I was the baby and although I was his granddaughter by blood, he adopted me at 18 months old and raised me as his daughter.
My senior year, I did not work like the rest of the seniors. It would have affected what little money they got and it was the same reason I did not get my driver's license. I was always conscious of what would help them and what would not help them. So I earned money on the side that paid for my wants and covered at least 85% of my senior year.
One day, at school, the office paged me over the intercom that someone was there to pick me up to go home. That never happened. When I walked in the office, my heart froze in mid-beat. My grandfather stood at the counter, not speaking, waiting on me. Something was wrong! Never in all my life had he ever picked me up from school. I was terrified. What happened?
He was never much of a person to talk. He was quiet. When he said something, you never forgot it though. He was not the type to waste words, and I remained quiet. We walked out and got into the old ford truck that I learned to drive in. This man sitting beside me was the same one that taught me how to drive and he also taught me how to cook.
We left the school and after driving a few miles, I noticed that we were not heading home. Still I could not bring myself to say anything. Soon he pulled over on the side of the road and got out of the truck. I got out and went to the back of the truck where he was leaning over to grab something out of the back. He pulled out a five gallon bucket, a tackle box, the minnow bucket and two poles. Handing me a pole and the minnow bucket, he turned and made his way to the fishing spot he picked. He never said a word, neither did I. This was a moment I would never forget.
Many years later, he was to sick to fish like he did. I got permission to go fishing at a cousin's pond. I was allowed to drive up to the pond so that he could fish without having to walk more than a few feet. I did this for him as often as I could, until he passed away.
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