6th Grade Essay Winner

"Grandpa, Plain and Tall"

by Carol Hanson

As a small plane lands, a young man steps out with a huge smile upon his face. This plane had just been in the air doing amazing acrobats: flips, turns, and jaw-dropping stunts. When I saw its adventurous pilot, he didn’t look as tough and heroic as I had imagined he would. In fact, he looked as common as my next door neighbor.

Like the pilot who stepped out of the acrobatic airplane, I often find myself comparing my Grandpa Hollander to common things like an antique kerosene lamp. Though he may appear tall, thin, and ordinary on the outside, his personality and inner strength lights up the lives of those around him. He charms many with his great ability to accomplish things from farming 1200 acres of land to spitting out the answer to a question on the Who Wants to be a Millionaire T.V. show. His energy and pep keeps my grandpa healthy and full of life.

In the same way that the flame of a kerosene lamp lingers on in a room, special times I’ve shared with my grandpa always stay in my mind. My grandpa lives on a farm that is nestled in the hills of Kentucky. Therefore, many of the special times I’ve had with my Grandpa Hollander are activities outside with nature. One day he was entertaining my cousins and I by giving us rides on one of his tractors. For almost two hours, the seven of us rode back and forth from the barn up the lane to the farmhouse. When it wasn’t our turn to drive, we rode on hay bales on the hay wagon which was pulled behind the tractor. Grandpa was perched very proudly on the hitch of the tractor and hovered over the child who was driving. I loved the confidence he had in us that day.

My favorite memory with Grandpa Hollander was a Fourth of July celebration at his farm. It was close to none o’clock when it finally began to get dark outside. All the cousins and adults set out lawn chairs near the shore of Grandpa and Grandma’s man-made pond to watch the store-bought firecrackers. I set my chair next to my grandpa and grandma’s chairs. After about 10 minutes of setting up, my uncle lit the first firecracker. The sight of the light showers on a starry summer night was amazing. The pond was like a mirror reflecting all the beautiful colors of the fireworks. We both shared those special moments in awe together.

As simple as the task of lighting a kerosene lamp, my grandpa has taught me to enjoy simple things in life, too. While many people enjoy being inside and staring at the T.V. or going shopping, Grandpa has taught me to enjoy "the outside" and other simple things in life. For example, a good, home-cooked evening meal perhaps may excite him as much as getting to level 59 on a video game would excite most teens. He has taught me how to enjoy just sitting outside at night and listening to crickets and other sounds of nature. One time as we sat quietly on Grandpa and Grandma’s back porch, we watched four deer come out of the woods and stand by the pond. It was a sight we never see in the city.

As it turns out, my grandpa has a lot in common with the young, adventurous man who flew that acrobatic plane. Grandpa Hollander was the pilot I described. He amazes people with his talents, and he is very entertaining. But most of all, he is very simply my hero.