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Seeing the True Meaning
by Aurora M
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To me a hero is someone who sees past the cover. To be able to disregard the price tag and look at the thought and effort put in. My grandmother is my hero because she displays the characteristic I described. She has many good qualities but this quality has helped me in my life.
My grandmother, Beatrice McGuckin grew up in the Bronx. She married my grandpa, Anthony McGuckin and they had nine children. They weren't the richest but they gave their family everything. They were a happy family. My grandmother never wanted much but always wanted to help others. She remembered that it's the thought that counts.
One New Year's Eve my cousin and I were playing in the house. We suddenly realized that it was almost my grandmother's birthday and everyone was giving her their present tonight. Oops! We had completely forgotten. As nine year olds we thought it was our family duty to get her a present of our own.
We started writing poems to make a book. Most of the poems were about winter, or about the beach where Nanny lived. Honestly the poems weren't that great. They went something like this:
"She lives on the beach,
She breathes the sea air,
She loves the waves,
That roll by."
We decided that poems didn't work so we tried to make a PowerPoint. We thought that clipart was the best tool for enhancing the poems. We each made a slide and then one together. Our presentation was titled "Nanny's Christmas." Now our gift was something we thought was somewhat good.
When my grandmother arrived, we quickly took her into my parent's room, where the PowerPoint was set up:
"Happy, happy birthday Nan,
From your very biggest fans,
We love you, you love us too,
We're glad to spend Christmas with you!"
As we showed each slide, more tears came into her eyes. I couldn't understand why. Was it really that bad? Later when everyone else gave their presents she smiled a bit, but she never cried. She kept watching the PowerPoint over and over. I thought she was sad. I apologized for the grammar mistakes. Then she smiled and whispered in my ear, "It's the thought that counts!"
My grandmother, Beatrice McGuckin grew up in the Bronx. She married my grandpa, Anthony McGuckin and they had nine children. They weren't the richest but they gave their family everything. They were a happy family. My grandmother never wanted much but always wanted to help others. She remembered that it's the thought that counts.
One New Year's Eve my cousin and I were playing in the house. We suddenly realized that it was almost my grandmother's birthday and everyone was giving her their present tonight. Oops! We had completely forgotten. As nine year olds we thought it was our family duty to get her a present of our own.
We started writing poems to make a book. Most of the poems were about winter, or about the beach where Nanny lived. Honestly the poems weren't that great. They went something like this:
"She lives on the beach,
She breathes the sea air,
She loves the waves,
That roll by."
We decided that poems didn't work so we tried to make a PowerPoint. We thought that clipart was the best tool for enhancing the poems. We each made a slide and then one together. Our presentation was titled "Nanny's Christmas." Now our gift was something we thought was somewhat good.
When my grandmother arrived, we quickly took her into my parent's room, where the PowerPoint was set up:
"Happy, happy birthday Nan,
From your very biggest fans,
We love you, you love us too,
We're glad to spend Christmas with you!"
As we showed each slide, more tears came into her eyes. I couldn't understand why. Was it really that bad? Later when everyone else gave their presents she smiled a bit, but she never cried. She kept watching the PowerPoint over and over. I thought she was sad. I apologized for the grammar mistakes. Then she smiled and whispered in my ear, "It's the thought that counts!"
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