One more thing

This is a paper I wrote for school last semester right after we found out my grandma had cancer. I thought I had already posted it but I didn't. This will be my last post about my grandma. I promise. No more Debbie Downer here.


I believe that in life there are good people and there are bad people. The best example of a good person that I have ever known is my grandma, Esther. My grandma is more patient than anyone I have ever met. She is also a very considerate and kindhearted person. Another reason my grandma is such a good person is because her whole life she has been nothing but selfless. She has always put others needs before her own and never complained about anything. She will truly never be forgotten.

My grandma has always been a patient person. She gave birth to eleven children. Eight of her children are boys. She had three girls; one of her girls is mentally challenged and one of her girls died at birth. Their family lived on a farm and there was plenty of room for her children to find or create trouble, which they did quite often. When she would get real mad at the boys she would call them “little boogers.” She never spanked any of her kids because she says she was “just too soft-hearted”. My grandma took care of my aunt who is mentally challenged for fifty-five years. She took her to work when she had to work and cared for her in a way that no one else could have. When my aunt throws fits, cussing and yelling at anyone who crosses her path, grandma just tells her to calm down and be nice. I never heard her once raise her voice even in the worst situations.

In addition to being extremely patient, my grandma is nice and caring. My grandma has eighteen grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. She has no favorites. She loves each and every one of us the same, regardless of how often we are able to go to see her or how well we behave. Even as she lies in the hospital suffering, she will still ask people how their day was and is genuinely concerned with how everyone is doing, just as we are concerned for her. The other night, my cousin Jadyn was crying because we all know that grandma is not going be around much longer. Grandma asked Jadyn what was wrong. To which Jadyn's mom simply replied, that she was tired and she needed to get her home and to bed because she didn't want to upset grandma. Also, my grandma has never had one bad thing to say about anyone. Even when my grandpa and all my uncles are gossiping about someone, grandma just smiles. I’m sure deep down she has to know that she is a better person for not saying anything. The other day I thanked my grandma for coming to our wedding a couple months ago and told her how much it had meant to my husband and me. It wasn’t a traditional Catholic wedding like most of our family has had, but she told me, “Oh, that was a nice wedding and I had a good time.” Because my grandma is so kindhearted, she always looks for the good in every situation.

Also, my grandma is also a very selfless person. By being selfless, she always puts other people needs in front of her own. To be honest, I don’t think that she ever really wanted anything that life had not given her. She stayed home and raised all her children. She did all of the cooking, cleaning, laundry, and other household chores. She never complained about having too much to do. Even until the day my grandma went into the hospital, she woke up at six o’clock every morning to make my grandpa a poached egg and toast for breakfast. When the whole family would come over on Sundays, my grandma would always cook lunch for everyone. When I was younger, if I got sick and my mom couldn’t pick me up from school, grandma would come pick me up and take me to her house. She would give me soup and crackers and let me lie on the couch and watch television or just sit and talk to me. Being sick at grandma’s house wasn’t near as bad as being sick and having to go home because she was so nice to be around. Of all the good qualities that my grandma possesses, I believe that her selflessness is the quality that separates her from most people.

I have met lots of good people in my life but the best person that I have ever known by far is my Grandmother. She truly lived her life to make other peoples' lives better. I feel very fortunate to have a grandma that is as good of a person as she is. She has always been a patient mother and grandmother, a kindhearted and caring individual and has never been a selfish person. My grandma loves to smile and she loves life. Most importantly, she loves to see other people around her happy.