Personal Narrative: My Great-Grandfather

All if not most of us have had a person in our lives that has deeply influenced us to become better. For me that person would be my great-grandfather. I was lucky to have a great-grandfather unlike most people. Even though he is not in this world anymore, he continues to influence my daily life. His life story inspires me to become a better person. In a nutshell, my grandfather was a person who was persistent, ambitious, and clever. My great-grandfather was born to a poor family in Toluca, Mexico. At age 20, with two children, he made the best decision of his life, move to The United States. In his small and poor town, there was little opportunity to survive. Jobless, my great-grandfather supplied food by hunting and occasionally stealing animals from farms. He built his home out of scrap material and parts of trees. The town had limited access to food and water. The only safe water to drink was 5 miles away. Due to the famine, one of his children was at risk of death because of malnutrition. He did not want to see his child die for a cause that he could fix. He hoped for a way out of this horrible life.

It was not until he noticed a pile of oranges below the tree that he knew what he was going to do. He picked them all up and put them inside a bucket. The next day he started his new job. He stood at a freeway exit and began to sell oranges. Every day he woke up at five in the morning and came back exhausted at around eight in the night. People sympathetically bought from this small and frail man as they saw that he was trying to make some money and survive. He continued to do this for the next several months. After making some decent money he started to solely support his family and could finally rent a small apartment. It was at this time that he choose to not only sell oranges but also all types of fruits that he could grow in his back yard. Later with the money he had raised, he opened a small stand inside a swap meet. His small business was good because people knew that he grew