First Draft of my Narrative

Ryan Stenzel

Shiela Allard

Written Communications

7 October 2010

My Grandfather

                My grandfather influenced many people throughout his life.  He touched the hearts of his family and even people outside of our family.  Everyone knew Joe Sheehan by name and reputation.  He would help anyone in need without asking for anything in return.  In my opinion this and his amazing work ethic made him one of the best men I have ever had the privilege of knowing.

                While I was growing up, my mom would sometimes leave me in my grandfather’s care while she went to work.  He would always teach me a lot about vehicles and motorcycle.  He also owned his own lawn care service, which he often let me help with as soon as I got old enough.  He taught me everything that he knew about owning a small business.  He also taught me that family and friends were the most important things in life.  He told me to find a career that I liked, but also make sure that it makes enough time for family.  When I was not being babysat by him, he would be at our house visiting and having a good time.

                Some of the reasons why I think my grandfather was such a great man are his generosity, his work ethic, and his warm heartedness.  He treated everyone that grew up with my aunts and uncles like they were family, even when they turned into adults.  He also would get to know anyone, no matter the circumstances.  Anytime he did work for someone, he would charge very little, if anything at all.  Even when my cousins and I were with him, he would make sure that we all learned something before we parted ways.  Like I said before, he taught me everything he knew about business and family and how they do not need to walk hand-in-hand.  He taught one of my cousins all about farming and how to run his own farm.

                As I got older, my relationship with my grandfather only got stronger.  This all changed when he was diagnosed with esophagus cancer.  He was a smoker for a good portion of his life, but the doctors didn’t think that is what had caused it.  They really didn’t know.  They put him on chemotherapy which just seemed to make him get worse.  He just kept getting thinner and weaker as time went on.  When my family and I would go out to visit him, he was either asleep or incoherent.  He was so heavily medicated that he did not recognize me or anyone in my family for that matter, a lot of the time.  This went on for a while until one day he just didn’t wake up.  This was July 29, 2004.  I got a call at my house from my mom, who had already left to go see him.  She sent our church’s nun to pick me up.  When I arrived at my grandfather’s house, I was not in the greatest situation.  Every time I even tried to look in his direction I would break down.  I realized on that day that my life would never be the same, but then that changed one year later.  My youngest brother was born on July 29, 2005 at around the same time in the morning that my grandfather had died the previous year.  This gave me a whole new perspective on the situation.  I realized that he would always be with my family and I in spirit.

                The long and the short of this story is that my grandfather brought joy to many peoples’ lives.  He was also one of the wisest and most generous men I had ever met.  He was one of the greatest people I have ever had the privilege of knowing throughout my life.