On January 21,2021, my great grandmother passed away. (If you're going to say I'm sorry for your loss, I thank you in advance) I'd like to tell you my profile project without my secondary research I used for it, which I interviewed my great grandmother for.
I remember sitting in my great grandmother’s house when I was younger, she used to sit on the couch with my mother and I, and my great grandfather and my father used to sit on the adjacent loveseat. I used to get so antsy just sitting there watching adult conversations float in the air around me. Instead of listening to their adult conversations, I used to observe everyone but mostly my great grandmother because she was always so calm and peaceful. I used to always wonder, what is it like to be her?
The profile project is a creative nonfiction profile essay. In which, I had to interview someone of my choice. Essentially, asking questions that answers the big question of who they are.
I am an average college student that just wants her normal life back but unfortunately for me I live during a pandemic. My busy social life has turned into never seeing my friends and family in person, getting tested for COVID-19 every two weeks for my job and hanging out with my friends virtually. So when I heard I have to interview someone for this profile project, I thought this might be an opportunity to hangout with my friends and interview them. If I would have done that it would not have learned so much about my family or would have been encouraged to be a better person. (I also would have missed out on an opportunity to be with my great grandmother)
For my profile project, I decided to interview my great mother on my mother’s side, Helen J. My parents have always taken me to visit her house ever since I was born, so I already knew her on a personal level. During March of 2020 my great grandmother moved to Georgia from South Carolina so she lives close to our family now. I am not able to visit her as often as I would like because of the Corona pandemic but my family said that this interview was an exception.
She let me interview her with her consent as long as there were not any photos of herself or her family online. (As the loyal great grand daughter I am, I will still respect her wishes and I'll
1924…
The year my great grandmother was born.
Wow… that was a long time ago. In 4 years, she will be 100. I hope she lasts that long.
She says that she had 13 siblings. 8 girls and 5 boys. That’s a lot of people in the house at one time and she said they never fought. That doesn’t surprise me she's always been so non-fighting…agreeable? Easy going? Easy to get along with? Mellow? No… Peaceable. I wonder if all of her siblings were the same way.
She continued on to say that she finished high school. Wait…what did they learn in history class? Because she was born before world war II so they didn’t learn about that.
She probably learned about World War I during the 1930s. That's probably the reason why she had so many siblings. Her dad came home from world war I and was happy to see his wife.
She went to college for one year after to be a registered nurse and probably dropped out because she got married during that time and started having children.
Instead of being a registered nurse, she worked for a publishing company. It sounds interesting, except for the fact they were publishing math and encyclopedias. She had four children of her own: Phillip, Gale (my grandmother), Fay, and Joyce. I asked which resembled how she was in the past to see if any of her children got her peaceful trait. She said Phillip, which I expected. Uncle Phillip is a tall, nice, very understanding and reasonable man. He's mellow like her and is physically like her, which I agree with.
I remembered thinking, when I asked her if she chose favorite children her answer was going to be no. She is a very balanced person, everything in everyone is equal to her. I didn't ask her how she is able to do this but I definitely should have asked.
After she tells me why her answer is no, she proceeds to tell me what she did as a mother. I bet she was an amazing mother because even now she is an amazing great grandmother.
I asked her if her husband chose favorites and I knew the answer was yes. How? Because I really knew what type of person he was. As she proved my answer was true, I started thinking about before he passed away, how he treated everyone.
I remember how he gave me the medal from the American Museum of Natural history, which he was rewarded for retiring from there.
I remember in my younger and more unbalanced years, I had friends that were twins. I always used to hangout with them and favor one more than the other. I remember, I told my favorite one that I enjoy hanging out with her more than her sister, she then told me that it's wrong to favor one twin more than the other.
Looking back at my life, nothing was balanced. I never figured out how to stick to a schedule or manage my time. I never could balance my friendships. When something in my life was doing well, there was always something that wasn’t going too well in another aspect of my life. I would always give different things more attention and nearly neglect the other. Nothing in my life was balanced. I believe that balance and peace go together, so without balance, how can you be peaceful?
As for my Great Grandmother, it seems like her life was always balanced. She said she never fought with her siblings and never chose favorites. When I looked back at every memory I had with her, she was right. She never chooses sides in an argument, she never chooses favorites, she always gave my cousins and I the same amount of money. Not only was she so balanced with everything but she was peaceful.
She always was always so peaceful. She never picked a fight and everything in her life was calm. She always handled everything peacefully and never got upset at anything. Her mind was too calm to get upset about simple human mistakes.
Having the interview with her made me realize that in no way my life was balanced. It made me realize that I do get upset at random things that are merely just imperfections of others. This sparked a strange inspiration for me to get my life together and make it more balanced and peaceful.
Ever since I did my research, I tried to live as peaceful and balanced as her; failed miserably. I looked back at my notes, trying to figure out how she was such an expert. As I am writing this reflection, I realize that she had so many years to practice peace and balance. If you’re trying to achieve peace and balance, it does not come overnight. It took her years and years of practice. Maybe once I get to be her age, I will have mastered the art of being peaceful.
For my last question of the interview, I asked my great grandmother, “Who are you?”
She answered with, “A 96 year old lady.” (She was 97 when she passed away)
She’s so much more than just an old lady, she is my family’s Eve. She created my family, the strong lineage that we are today comes from her. She is the loving and patient woman when you need her the most. She is the person who taught me how to be peaceful and balanced and inspired me to make a change in my life. She is the woman that has been inspiring me since I was 8, the one who I have always looked up to and I hope to be like her when I'm older. I’m so glad that she has stayed on this Earth for so long so I could meet her.
After wondering what it was like to be her for so long, I finally got to know what it's like to be her. It's extremely difficult to be like her. She’s so peaceful and the world tries to ruin it. I think that’s the best thing about her, she maintains her peace and stays strong while everything comes at her. She’s so unbothered, remains unaged, and in control. Now, I wonder when I am as old as her, will I be peaceful or will I let the world age me?
I learned a lot about what it's like to be peaceful and balanced because of that interview. I'm really glad I got to interview her.
With peace, love and positivity,
Yours truly,
Syddnii Senpai🖤
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