An Impactful moment in my life

I was young, probably around five years old, not sure what everything was yet. I do remember going down to Saint George with the whole clan for Thanksgiving dinner at my Grandma’s house. We had a few days to get settled in before the big day, and we were very busy! My older boy cousins decided to play tag on my grandparent’s property, and two of them either fell into a cactus, or stepped on one with their bare feet. I remember watching my aunt pull needle after needle out of them. I knew it hurt because they were teenage boys, and crying about how much it hurt. Finally Thanksgiving Day arrived. I remember these cute little terra cotta pots that my grandma made to look like little turkeys for all of us. I remember all the food that was there, and how I got a little bit freaked out when I looked into my cousin, Spenser’s eyes, and saw how big his eyes were, and how big his pupils were. They were as big and dark as two black plates. The next day I found out why they were this way.

                I wanted to go exploring the day after Thanksgiving, but my grandpa called us all in for a family meeting. I don’t remember everything that was said, but I do remember he started out with, “Now if you kids want to play tag on my property, you better steer clear of the damn cactus!” We all laughed about this, then things got a more serious note. He started telling us about how when he was in the Navy, his friends would pressure him into doing things he really didn’t want to do. They convinced him to get tattoos, and how he ended up with three of them. He also told us about how they pressured him into smoking, and how he soon got addicted to getting high. He told us that one of his toughest struggles was trying to quit smoking, and how much better his life had become since then. He then looked us all in the eyes, and basically told us he would wring our necks if he ever heard of us doing crazy bad stuff like that, because he has seen where it’s led to. That lesson has stuck with me since it happened. I gained respect for my grandpa, because we all knew that he knew about Spenser getting high the night before, but instead of embarrassing my cousin, which he could’ve done quite easily, he didn’t. I learned a lot about myself and my grandpa from this experience.