What I Carry
Blue=snapshots
Green=sketch person
Purple=sketch place
Type of lead=setting

Dear Grandpa,

We turned down that long road that your house is on. As we drove down the road with corn fields to our right and big, beautiful, ranch style homes to our left, we all knew this would be a boring and sad visit. When we got to the door, Grandma was excited to see us even though this was the fourth visit this week. Because you had just passed away, my mom, my brothers, and I had been visiting Grandma as much as possible.
While my mom and Grandma talked in the kitchen, my two brothers and I were in the living room. Because I was only seven years old, I always brought my Gameboy with me to Grandma’s house in case I ever got bored. It was very warm in the house, Grandma always had the heat up pretty high, but my brothers and I were too polite to complain about it.  We were not sweating, but it was warm enough to keep our faces red and our ears hot. The living room was a pretty cozy place with dim lighting and enough furniture to accommodate many people. It was very clean and everything was always perfect. No dust on anything and the pillows were always fluffed and in the perfect position. The carpeting was light brown and by just looking at it you could not tell it was worn down, maybe because Grandma cleaned so much, but once you walked on the flat, thin carpeting you could tell. After all, you two did have five children so it would make sense the carpeting was a little worn. There were many pictures and decorations on the simple white walls except for the wall that had the fireplace. A beautiful, gray stone wall with a big fireplace in the middle of it, was the highlight of the room.

I was sitting on the floor and playing with my Gameboy. Although you had just passed away, I was not very upset at that moment. I could hear Grandma walking towards the living room from the kitchen so I put my Gameboy down. She had lost quite a bit of weight from the stress and now was pretty skinny. Her back was slightly hunched and because of her severe arthritis, her walk was more a shuffle. She was carrying a small, brown, leather, and plastic box with her. She opened it up and showed me this beautiful, gold wrist watch. The gold watch has a one and a half-inch diameter with a pearl white background, gold hands and numbers, and a gold dial on the right side. On the back was engraved your initials, H. S. Mominee, with the logo of Toledo Edison, the factory you worked in. The elastic wrist strap is links of textured gold with silver on the back.

She gave me the watch and told me she would like me to have it because it was yours. Although was not too excited about it, I tried my hardest to pretend I was fascinated by it. She took it out of the box and I put it on. The smile on Grandma’s face was huge and she told me it looked good on my wrist, though I knew I would probably never wear it anytime soon.

This watch reminds me of you every time I see it. We were very close. It is one of the few things I have of you. I was not then and am still not that sentimental of a person but this watch means a lot to me. It also reminds me of one of my favorite qualities about you; you were a hard worker and did a good job of anything you did. Grandma told me that your bosses gave you the watch for working at the factory for 25 years, though you continued to work there well after 25 years.

  Love,
   Dalton