Grandpa (The Old Man and the Old Woman | Teen Ink

Grandpa (The Old Man and the Old Woman

July 1, 2013
By JeffBiers SILVER, Georgetown , Pennsylvania
JeffBiers SILVER, Georgetown , Pennsylvania
9 articles 17 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
One thing I learned over all the heartbreak, pain, and suffering is that life goes on.


There once was an old man. And one day his grandchildren came to visit. While they were playing in the living room the old man sat in his chair and said "children. Can you come here?" And the kids came over and sat in front of the old man. They were talking and the old man hushed them. He went on and said "I have a story for you kids. A story that is true and it happened to me. When I was in my early 20's I went to Vietnam. While in Vietnam we had a mission to clear out a village before an attack by the Vietcong. When we went through cabin to cabin they all cleared out. It was my job to clear a cabin out at the end of the village. So I went and knocked on the door. A young woman my age at the time answered the door." He paused and looked out the window to his left. "Oh how I remember her. I remember the way her eyes reflected the sweetness of her personality. I fell in love at first site. Once we cleared out the village she remained close to me. Even when we came home from Vietnam she hid away in the airplane storage. When we got home she stayed with me. We fell in love for real. As we grew older we fell harder and harder." He started to tear up as he was saying this. "She became sick. She was stuck in a hospital bed and was on constant watch. I held her hand night and day no matter what. Didn't sleep until she was asleep. And on her last day of life she told me a story. Her mother and father built the house she was in that day. A year before I knocked on the door they both died within the same month. She said that on their dying words both of them. That she will fall in love with a man who realizes your true beauty." He looked his grand children. "I'm the man that realized it. And her parents were right.. After she told the story her last word was 'lasting'. She died while I was holding her hand. I felt the life slide out of her hand. Wanna know why I told you guys this? I want you guys to know. Love is lasting if it's with the right person. It lasts until death." He then gets up from his chair and turns back to the children "now come on. We have to get to the funeral." They walk out of the house. Two weeks later the old man died of natural causes. His last word was 'Spirit'. Because lasting spirit means they will be together forever in spirit.


The author's comments:
This piece was inspired by my own Grandfather who was in Vietnam, of course he didn't fall in love or anything but I've always hoped that there was just one thing that war brought together.

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