coming of age | Teen Ink

coming of age

January 18, 2013
By andrew klander BRONZE, Bellingham, Washington
andrew klander BRONZE, Bellingham, Washington
4 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Everything has changed since I was little. Almost nothing is the same as when I was 7. I’ve changed the way I live now. I’ve almost changed my whole life. I’ve changed my new work ethic, a lot of things have changed since then.

When I was little and use to go to my grandparents there would always be a bowl of candy that my great grandpa would always leave in the middle of the table for me. Whenever he was around he would be feeding the animals and he would have a pipe in his mouth full of tobacco. I don’t remember much more about him because I was so young. The only other thing I remember is the weekends he passed. It was a Thursday and it was a weekend I was suppose to go to my Dad’s house. I was at my Mom’s house watching T.V that day when the phone rang. I didn’t really think much of it because my Mom was one of those people who talk a lot to her friends, so I just thought whatever. My Mom came up to me with the phone. I knew there was something up because she had that sad look in her eyes. I get on the phone and I say.

“Hey dad.”

“Hey bud, I’m not gunna be able to come get you this weekend because your grandpa passed away.”

At that moment I just felt my heart drop. Spending the weekend with my dad was one of my favorite things we would do because he was such a good role model to me and we would always go out and do something fun.

“Okay dad.” I said with a sad tone in my voice.

When I got off the phone my mom asked what was up. Like if she didn’t actually know though. I told her but she didn’t seem to really care. Every time I went to my grandparent’s house after that I would go into the house. There would be that same glass bowl, sitting in the same spot where grandpa left it, but there would be no candy in it. To this day we still have that same bowl of candy and my grandparent’s house but now they fill it up with candy. That’s the only thing we really have to remember him by now. Another thing that has changed throughout the years is our horses. We used to have 2 horses. Ones name was Gizmo and the others name was Shorty. They are both 17 years old now and my grandma has had them since they were babies and she loves them to death. One day my grandparents where home from driving to Alaska for their job so I was over there. Shorty was not looking so hot. He was just laying there, he wouldn’t move for anything not even some grain (which was his favorite because he was a little on the fat side). My grandma had to call the vet and the vet came out to the house and said that they horse was very sick and should probably get put to sleep. All of a sudden my grandma started to cry. I’ve never seen her even come close to crying but she was really upset. So we went to my grandpa and told him what the vet said. My grandpa believed that it was the best decision. So we put the horse down. To this day we still have Shorty and we still ride the horse.

I’ve grown up since I started going to my grandparent’s farm a lot more often. I’ve changed my work ethic. I use to run around the farm and do whatever the heck I wanted to do and I didn’t even care what anyone had to say. When I turned 15 it all changed though. Grandpa expected me to do work and become a hard working man. He believed that if I started to work now I would become a hard worker later in life. He is a very smart person because he was right. Now that I’ve worked with him for a year in a half I’ve become a very hard worker. I do not run around anymore like I use to. I’ve grown up, my sisters and cousins still try and get me to run around with them but I have to say no because I’m always working. As much as I want to go run around, I can’t.

Throughout the years a lot has changed for me. I sometimes wish I could let the kid out that’s inside me and run around and have fun, but I always come back to reality and know I can’t do that. I know I need money for gas and insurance so I have to work and not play. I have to tell my grandma to stop having things change because I don’t like them changing thing but I guess that’s what happens when you get older and time goes by. That’s what you get with the coming of age.



Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 0 comments.