The day finally came where I saw him walk through our front door into our house. He carried with him only a suitcase and a small orange toolbox. That evening he visited with us and asked me and my siblings how our lives were going in regards to school and activities we were involved in. The next day as I was going outside to play with my younger brothers, thinking that I was going to have a fun carefree Saturday, my grandpa called out to me and said, "Joshua, how about we spend the day helping your mother. There are a lot of things she wants us to fix. I'm old and weak and you are young and strong." There it was, just as I anticipated, my grandpa asking me to help him with menial handyman jobs around our house. Just to please him, I grudgingly agreed to help him out.
We started with the sliding door. It was filled with dirt and other stuff. My grandpa handed me one of his fatheads from his orange toolbox and showed me how to clean it out. I hated the job; however within minutes our door was sliding smoothly again.
After cleaning the sliding door I headed outside to play. My grandpa yelled in a pleading tone, "Don't leave me! Don't leave me!". Feeling guilty again, I came back. "Help me fix this leak behind the dish washer.". Again, I hesitantly walked into the kitchen to help him. I was actually quite fascinated that grandpa had everything he needed in this small toolbox to fix everything. From a micro screwdriver, to a set of pliers that could take off a 1/2" nut, he was never in short supply of tools.
As we worked on fixing the leak, he taught me about plumbing and tricks for fixing leaks behind dishwashers. After half hour of helping him, he had my undivided attention. He was also so optimistic that we were able to fix a leak that my parents thought could never be fixed. I realized that I felt way better helping grandpa out than I did playing outside or watching tv. I think I had a small transcendent moment while we were working. As the day went on, I became addicted to helping my grandpa out with these tasks because I was learning something new. At the end of the day, I felt that my grandpa was one of my best friends. That experience had a lasting impact on me and changed my outlook on life in a very small and simple way.
A decade later, my grandpa unexpectedly died of a heart attack. After his funeral, we went to my uncles house where he had all his belongings spread out on the lawn for us to take. As I looked over his belongings I noticed a small toolbox. When I saw it, I was immediately flooded of a flashback of when he helped a twelve year old boy gain confidence and optimism within himself. I took the toolbox as a reminder of how my grandpa helped me fix my life through a small act.
Creative Statement
I actually struggled for a while trying to figure out a object that I have that has a significant impact on my life and has meaning to me. The idea came to me when I spotted the toolbox on a shelf in my apartment. Seeing the toolbox reminded me that there was a TON of significance behind it. The poem "Ode to Things" describes how I feel about this toolbox. As Pablo Neruda says, "Not only did they touch me, or my hand touched them: they were so close that they were a part of my being." The toolbox that I have is the only physical object I have left that reminds me of my Grandpa and how much he loved me. When I saw it after his funeral I immediately took it because, it represented who my grandpa was in one object. I feel that this experience I had with this object can be related to the story in Batman Begins when batman is going through his fathers belongings and immediately the movie cuts to brief flashbacks of his father using these items. I feel that how this toolbox relates to an emotional experience I had with my grandpa could make a good story. At the very least, just having these same feelings flowing through me as a write a future script on how an item means something to the character or the theme itself. In order to create a good visual story, you have to experience the same feelings that your characters feel in your story. This exercise helped me out with that. This assignment has helped me realize the significance items have in representing a principle or, put in a film, can help the viewer recall the same feelings the characters might be feeling. Every object in the universe really has meaning to it beyond the visual and tangible characteristics of it.
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