I never got to meet my grandfather. From what my motherhas told me, he was a hard-working man who was a dedicated high-school scienceteacher. Almost every penny he made went into the bank. Rarely did he spend moneyon frivolous things. On the rare, wild occasion that he would take my mother andher two older brothers out, they were allowed to get only a hamburger, but nofries, drinks or anything that would cost a little extra.
When he wasn'tteaching, my grandfather worked at a pharmacy. He was so intent on saving moneythat he would steal little items from the store. He didn't want to spend hishard-earned money on things that were right in front of his eyes.
At theage of 53, my grandfather died of a heart attack. Great - he had money in thebank, but he was dead. He had spent his whole life waiting for some sort of grandreward that would come only from years of saving, stealing and suffering,choosing not to do the things he wanted in order to be happy when he got older.But in the blink of an eye, everything vanished.
When my mother was inhigh school, she worked extremely hard, studying every day for hours. She got socaught up in her schoolwork that she never went to parties or did anything fun.For four years, my mother's life was school, school and more school. Her life wasmonotonous, and she was miserable, but she excelled in her classes.
Mymother was the class valedictorian; her hard work paid off. Yet now she tells methat if she could do it all again, she wouldn't study so hard. Sure, she wouldtry to get good grades, but she would give herself a break sometimes to live inthe moment. You are only in high school once.
There are some who live onlyfor their futures, and they are on a one-way street that never ends. No matterhow much they achieve, they must keep working toward some far-off goal. They giveeverything they have to those goals. I will admit that I admire both mygrandfather and my mother for their accomplishments, but at the same time, I havelearned not to think only of the future, and to take pleasure in the life I haveright now. So look ahead, but at the same time, live a little. Learn to enjoy thebeauty of now.
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