Personal Narrative-Male Bonding

Improved Essays
Male Bonding

Years later, my father started his own home building and remodeling company. If Dad had a sufficient backlog of work, he hired his own father to assist him; and when each of his sons reached the age of fifteen, he employed us during our breaks from school. By the time Dad engaged my services in the trade, Grandpa’s declining physical capabilities significantly limited his possible work assignments. Although he couldn’t climb or handle heavy lifting, by using a light and compact circular saw, Grandpa could still cut shiplap boards. Frequently, I worked with Grandpa sheathing floors and walls. While laboring at these tasks, I carried the lumber, he measured and cut the boards, and I nailed them in place.

Even though Grandpa
…show more content…
With feelings of loss and affection, I rushed home. As one of his pallbearers, I solemnly carried the aged soldier, my compassionate grandfather, and a work colleague, to his resting place.

Straightforward Logic

After serving in the Great War, Elmer Lofgren returned to a peaceful agrarian life on the family farm. He married Ida and they raised two sons, Myron and Lyle. By the late 1960s, Elmer and Ida, advanced in years and their nest empty, continued to reside on the farm. They hadn’t modernized their farmhouse and lived in much the same fashion as they had decades earlier. Wishing to ease the hardship of advanced years with a convenient inside bathroom, Myron and Lyle hired my father to remodel their parents’ house.

Elmer, not particularly pleased with the arrangements, voiced his dissatisfaction by declaring, “It’s unsanitary going to the bathroom in the house!”

When my father came home, clearly amused, he shared with us Elmer’s reaction to the indoor bathroom. I envisioned that the elderly man expressed his position in a deep booming voice with genuine conviction and an authoritative air. After a moment to ponder the statement, I felt as if Elmer conveyed the truth and the rest of us had something to learn from his straightforward
…show more content…
As I rolled down the car window, Ida came out of the house, dressed to depart with Elin. Ida abruptly halted when she noticed us and I overheard her say, “Clara has come to visit.” Subsequently, she turned to Elin and, while emphasizing the urgency with her hands, articulated the directive, “You go now, without me.” As Elin drove away, Ida welcomed us into her kitchen. The pungent odor of smoke and a blurring haze filled the poorly lit room, as intense heat radiated from a cast iron stove. The kitchen fixtures and painted cupboards embodied an earlier time and years of burning wood had muted their colors into shades of gray. Consequently, I had the sensation of walking back in time and into one of the images of Grandpa and Grandma’s farm, which Grandma captured with photography before the Great

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    Page 9 -“But I could never enjoy the room without worrying about Mom and Dad huddled on a sidewalk grate somewhere.” At the end of the book, the dad is dead but during this scene, he is still alive. Question: This scene couldn’t have taken place after the book, so when did this event take place?…

    • 1491 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The earliest I can remember learning that my gender was different and treated differently from someone else’s was probably when I was five or six years old. I always had to wear a dress or an outfit that was always pink. I had to play with dolls and only do things that little girls would normally do and I of course noticed that boys didn’t have to do anything similar to me so I realized that I was being treated differently simply because I was a girl.…

    • 87 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Finding the perfect mate is everything. That is the person you will spend the rest of your entire life. Your perfect mate is your best friend, your spouse, and your world. Many romantic novels are written about people finding their perfect mate. Romantic stories have written like that throughout time.…

    • 337 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The week I spent in the Redwood forests was incredible! I went hiking, river rafting, and even got to climb a redwood, with harnesses and supervision, of course. The most outstanding experience, however, was I discovered that a settler had carved a house in General Sherman. While I was hiking along one of the trails in the Redwood Forest, I stumbled upon a hidden path.…

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Boys and Girls Club, has brought so many opportunities into my life that have shaped me into the strong, hard working, role model I am today. At my club, I enjoy the luxury of the teen side with my friends, and participate in many leadership programs, such as Torch Club and now Keystone. I set an example for those looking up to me, and have even gotten the chance to mentor younger kids/help out my community by donating to numerous homeless shelters, and going to the accompany the seniors at senior homes. My actions haven’t always seemed to be one of a leader's, and my life at the club hasn’t always been so wonderful either.…

    • 479 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A little after one in the morning, Miss Maudie Atkinson’s house caught on fire. The fire spewed from the dining-room windows and it slowly devoured the house. The old fire truck that had been killed by the cold, was being pushed through the streets by a crowd of men. When the men attached the hose to a hydrant, the hose burst and water shot up, falling to the pavement. Then the men took the furniture from Miss Maudie’s house to the yard across the street.…

    • 264 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    stood at the front of the stage staring up at him, looking right thought the other band members and ignoring the raging crowd behind me. There were dozens of screaming girls trying to take my place, hoping to get the lead singer to notice them but I had no interested in him. It was the drummer that had my undivided attention and I wasn’t moving.…

    • 2009 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    she washed her face so her hands were wet so she went to go dry them and the paper towel machine wasn't working she she hit it and a piece came off so we tried fixing it and the we hear a crack and like 3 seconds later it fell of the wall and we started cracking up for like what it has felt like 10 minutes and he ran out of the bathroom laughing still and then she was in a better mood so was i…

    • 148 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Gents, would it be possible to meet up with either of you, some time during next week, at your convenience? I know you are both extremely busy. any insight into a plan of attack for the role would be beneficial, and of course I would like to hit the ground running! Let me know if you are not travelling and are available. Thanks…

    • 64 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sarah Penn Analysis

    • 374 Words
    • 2 Pages

    (1) Sarah Penn’s decision to move her family into the barn without her husband’s awareness or approval is not the kind of behavior expected of a woman at the time of the story. (2) When moving her family into the barn, the narrator refers to Sarah’s “genius” and “bravery,” and her children are “overawed” by their mothers’ actions (Freeman). (3) Sammy and Nanny stare at each other and then watch as their mother prepares to make the move; as Nanny asks her mother what is happening, “a sense of something unusual made [Nanny] tremble” (Freeman). (4) The narrator explains the children’s behavior by stating that “there is a certain uncanny and superhuman quality about all such purely original undertakings as their mother’s was to them” (Freeman).…

    • 374 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Peanut Butter

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages

    I have only one love in my life, and that is peanut butter. Nothing could make me not want that delicious snack. I would have peanut butter everything. Peanut butter cookies, sandwiches, candy bars, you name it and I ate it.…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “You must be tired,” he said. “Being a warrior is an awfully fine and noble profession, but I’m sure it’s wearisome. Now boys, go straight down the hall, grab a chair, and put your feet up. Relax.” Two seconds later, we were wedged deep in a lumpy sofa in his sitting room.…

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Puritan Reflective Essay

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages

    “Oh no, not even close. All that Puritan missionary fumbling with Mary has turned you into a little bit of a cold fish. When you tell me that you’re hale and hearty, well, I just don’t feel it radiating from your loins. It’s time for you to have a good fuck for once in your life. It’ll loosen you up a little.”…

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The average American kid usually grows up in a neighborhood where they create close friends with other kids around the block. For the most part, I have seen trends where kids stick together through the school years and later no longer know each other. Why? We have created these bonds with people that helped you grow up and then later forget them? Well I believe it starts when you graduate high school.…

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Still a bit drunk, he opens the door to the basement hesitantly. He takes the first step down the basement and the dull sound of the stairs echoed throughout the basement. To his surprise, the sound was exactly the same as he remembered. Dave was six years old the time he was moving to his new home. The family used to live in a boxed up and dark apartment.…

    • 1618 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays

Related Topics