On February 28, 1997, my grandfather and my role model, Jimmie Gray, passed away. He had been sick for a very long time, but he never wanted the family to know. The night that he passed away, I remember listening to his music, reminiscing on all the good times. My grandfather would always tell me, “We don’t want a mumbling doctor in the family.” He always motivated me to be confident about who I was, and when he passed away, I knew that God was passing me the baton. The time had come for me to stand up and become a man, even though I was only 18.
Since my father was not around, I didn’t know or understand what it meant to be a man. Most of the examples I saw generally came from men who stumbled around the old block or from depictions …show more content…
Instead, not only did he take us in, but he refused to allow us to give up on ourselves. I guess he saw something in us that we couldn’t see in …show more content…
Even though Quinn and I didn’t want to go, he knew it was for our own good. Too many parents give their children too many choices. Sometimes, parents need to make certain choices for their children because it’s for their own good. My grandfather didn’t put a gun to our heads or threaten to beat us if we refused to go. Rather, he presented options that we couldn’t refuse. If we didn’t go to church, then we would have to stay in the house all day and perform several chores. To us, the choice was obvious, and every single Sunday we would be in church. We had to wear a nice shirt, tie, and slacks, which we hated at the time. In addition to this, we had to join the choir, the usher board, and the youth council club that the church had formed.
My grandfather, though he never taught me how to play basketball or how to approach women, taught me lessons that were far more valuable. He taught me about life. Many times when I would wake up to go to the bathroom, I would see him in his bedroom on his knees in prayer. Throughout my life with him, I never saw him drink, smoke, fight, or disrespect my grandmother. I only heard him curse one time, and that was directed at me! Now, I know he wasn’t perfect, but in my eyes, he helped me to become a
Since my father was not around, I didn’t know or understand what it meant to be a man. Most of the examples I saw generally came from men who stumbled around the old block or from depictions …show more content…
Instead, not only did he take us in, but he refused to allow us to give up on ourselves. I guess he saw something in us that we couldn’t see in …show more content…
Even though Quinn and I didn’t want to go, he knew it was for our own good. Too many parents give their children too many choices. Sometimes, parents need to make certain choices for their children because it’s for their own good. My grandfather didn’t put a gun to our heads or threaten to beat us if we refused to go. Rather, he presented options that we couldn’t refuse. If we didn’t go to church, then we would have to stay in the house all day and perform several chores. To us, the choice was obvious, and every single Sunday we would be in church. We had to wear a nice shirt, tie, and slacks, which we hated at the time. In addition to this, we had to join the choir, the usher board, and the youth council club that the church had formed.
My grandfather, though he never taught me how to play basketball or how to approach women, taught me lessons that were far more valuable. He taught me about life. Many times when I would wake up to go to the bathroom, I would see him in his bedroom on his knees in prayer. Throughout my life with him, I never saw him drink, smoke, fight, or disrespect my grandmother. I only heard him curse one time, and that was directed at me! Now, I know he wasn’t perfect, but in my eyes, he helped me to become a