Robert Donald Carson

My Grandfather

When you are in a big city like Manhattan for the first time, you look up at the amazing structures and are in complete state of awe. I have a person in my life that makes me feel that way whenever I am around him. Many people have heroes that they look up to in life, and I have my amazing Grandfather. He is a man that I would consider to be a “Real Man.” The main reason is that he is very close with God; he leads a Sunday school class at First Baptist of Greenville. He also served the country that he lives in, and was a Lieutenant Colonel. This gives me so much respect for him. He has also been married for 50 years to his high school sweetheart, and he loves and respects her. He is a very hard worker, and puts his all into the things he does. He is also a great and fun person to be around, as well as being smart. These are just a few of the reasons why my Grandfather is a hero to me.

I remember when I was very little, around three or four years old. Every Sunday after church my Grandfather and Grandmother would take me to Burger King to eat, and then to the train station to watch the trains go by. I loved trains, and every Sunday there we were at the train station, watching and waving to the trains going by. Another tradition we had was that every summer we would go to my grandparents' beach house. My parents, my grandparents, both of my aunts and uncles, and all of my cousins would go to Litchfield by the Sea near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I went every year since I was born, even though I don’t remember going until I was about five or six. My mom told me that when we were down there until I was three, every morning I would wake up very early, my Grandfather would get up, he would take me to the beach, and carry me in a backpack until I fell asleep. He would walk a few miles and then turn around and go back to the beach house. I remember when I was around 7, all of the guys in our family would body surf, but I didn’t know how to. My Grandfather spent an entire week trying to teach me how to body surf, and finally, after many days of trying, I was able to body surf by myself. They had an initiation ceremony and gave me a shark tooth necklace like the ones all of the guys in my family had. I was part of the “Body Surfing Club.” I was seven years old and on top of the world because of the help he gave me.

I grew older, and finally our family decided that we would go crab hunting at night when we were at the beach. We each had our jobs to do when we went hunting. I was the fastest, so I got the net and went to catch the crabs after they were spotted with a flashlight by my cousin Amanda. My grandfather held the bucket as we put the crabs in it. We also had someone else who would have a flashlight, and eventually another person running after the crabs. After doing this for a while, my grandfather suggested we have the “Crab Hunting Team.” So, to be part of this, at the end of crab hunting that night, we found a big hole that someone had built that day, and my grandfather poured out the bucket of the crabs in the middle of the hole as we stood around it not moving. Well, sort of not moving. Any girls that were with us usually ran away. One time though, that particularly sticks out in my mind, was when my grandfather stood there perfectly still as a crab climbed up his leg. All of us were scared, but he stood there still. This proved to me how brave he was.

When I was older, around fourteen or so, whenever we would be coming back from either the lake or the beach, I would ask him about when he was in the military. He would always tell me these great things about it, and I became interested. He began telling me about R.O.T.C. which would help me get through school with the army paying for it, and I simply had to serve a few years after I graduated. At first this interested me, because I wanted to be a doctor, so I knew I would have lots of student loans and debt after I graduated. I didn’t seem interested, but it was always in the back of my mind. After pondering this a few years I realized that the military path would not be the one for me. At first I didn’t realize how high up in the military ranks he was until my mom told me about how her grandfather who is 90 years old was a Colonel. I knew that was one step below a General, which was a very high rank. I thought about how young my grandfather was and how he was only one step below a Colonel. This immediately gave me more respect for him than I ever had before.

One other thing that makes my Grandfather a hero to me is how much he respects my Grandmother and cares for her. They have been married for fifty years. As long as I have been alive, I have never ever seen them disrespect each other or anything near that. They are always caring and loving to each other. This has helped me to realize how I should try to be like him, and respect everyone, and especially the people that I care for dearly.

My Grandparents

I always knew my grandparents were very spiritual. They go to church every Sunday, read their Bibles, and I can tell they live God-filled lives. I really didn’t realize this until I myself became very spiritual, and was saved in seventh grade. It was then that I truly realized how spiritual they really were. My Grandmother leads teams that help at the church, and my Grandfather teaches a class on Sunday mornings. He teaches some of the more elderly people in the church, but I know he puts his heart into his teachings and discussions with them. He is the kind of person who puts all of himself into what he does. He is also a very fun person to be around. Once a year, his company rents out an amusement park and we go there and race go-karts, play laser tag, and go bowling. He always makes jokes about how he will beat me in go-karts and have bugs in his teeth from going so fast. Sometimes we will go bowling as well. It is just a very fun time wherever he is.

My Grandfather is also very brilliant. He graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in Engineering. One other way I know he is very smart is because he can sit down with a crossword puzzle, and he can solve it very quickly. These characteristics combine to make him a great person to look up to.

Around Christmas 2009, my whole family decided to go roller skating at a skating rink. We were there a few hours and my grandfather was out skating around the whole time while some of the others would stop to take breaks. After we were done skating and went home, my Stepmom told me something that my Dad had said. My Dad had said that he had wanted to be just like my Grandfather when he was his age. I immediately agreed with that statement, but then my Dad listed his reasons. He said my grandfather was so fit for his age, also, he worked for a very prestigious engineering company. My Grandfather had not been working as much, and I knew this, but my dad said that they kept calling him back in to work more, and that they needed him there. I was instantly in shock. I knew where he had worked, and I had been there before, but I didn’t realize how they needed him, and how important he was to them. Right at that moment, I knew who my Hero was. Now I can look back, and know all the times in my life where he has revealed how much of a hero he is right before my eyes.