Duality Essay:

Our chairs were based off of our relationship with someone; here is the relationship I chose:

My grandfather and I have always had an extremely close relationship. How could I not after growing up across the street from him for the majority of my childhood? He was an omnipresent fixture in my life for as long as I can remember. I used to jokingly tell my mother that if I ever got arrested, Papa would be my one call because I could rely on him to help me, and without a doubt to answer his phone regardless of whether or not he was busy. I think my relationship with papa is sturdy, comfortable, solid, and reliable. When I first got my driver’s license and was driving my piece-of-junk 1994 Saab back and forth to school every day, he was very concerned for my safety. He would repeatedly tell me that if anything went wrong I should pull over on the side of the road and call him, and he would come get me. Thankfully this was never necessary, but I never doubted that he would go out of his way to do so. This made me feel so much more safe and comfortable with the novelty of driving on my own. That is what my papa is to me—a safety net underneath me, ready to catch me and save my fall.

My papa is old fashioned, but that is one of the things I love best about him. I think many of his strong traditional morals have been instilled in me. When my dad used to ask me to perform manual labor, such as mowing the lawn, my grandpa would get upset and say that my brother should do it, not me. He let all my cousins ride on his motorcycle except the girls, because he is protective and doesn’t want us to get hurt. He has always been proud and supportive throughout my life, whether it be for school plays or music recitals or any achievement I attained. I love him more than anyone in the world and I miss being so close to him. The only way I have been able to keep up with him since I moved to Kansas is through the rare and infrequent telephone calls and the occasional sporadic email. We got him a Facebook account, but he took such an immediate disliking to it that he probably hasn’t been on it once since. However, I don’t necessarily need to talk with him regularly to feel close to him; we never have talked much. Our relationship was always more on the non-verbal side, and I would ride in comfortable silence with him in the car without saying a word and not feel awkward as I might with other people.  Some of my fondest childhood memories are the weekend afternoons I would spend with Papa just watching old black-and-white movies together.

He has been a greater influence on my life than he probably knows. I admire his optimistic demeanor, and how he can respond to any comment with a humorous quip.  One of my favorite characteristics of his is how he is always trying to make people laugh. But he also puts on a strong face and muscles his way through difficult times. His exterior is strong and tough, but inside he is warm and gentle. I think that is why I find it so easy to put my trust in him and rely on him to always be there for me, to protect and support me.