Narritive Essay

There it was the infamous clear jar with the bright blue lid. I knew the contents of that familiar jar. I took the jar and shook it, setting it down I watched the contents swirl its colorful contents. It was my grandpa’s signature homemade chili. It was common knowledge in my family, grandpa made the spiciest chili.

My grandpa had always in my eyes almost godlike; I had never seen him face a task he couldn’t conquer. When something broke, grandpa was there with his tools ready to tinker till it was fixed. When anyone had a problem, he always had a life story or piece of advice handy to help. Grandpa was known as a proud and strong man, he sipped down his chili without so much as a tear. Also he enjoyed his coffee; I don’t remember seeing him without a cup of his Folgers.

This is why no one seemed to notice his ailing health. My grandpa had been smoking since he was fourteen. Yet he never showed any signs of becoming ill. To me seeing him light up a cigarette was as normal me drinking a glass of water.

So on the day my grandpa was rushed to the hospital, suffering a severe heart attack, sending wave of shock and surprise that rippled through the whole family. The heart attack was only the beginning of the domino effect of health problems for my grandpa.

The doctors gave their diagnosis; he would have to have a quadruple by-pass. The heart attack occurred due to all four pathways to the heart had been clogged. The doctors said he was lucky; he could have died had he not been rushed to the hospital. With my mother making the call, they proceeded with the procedure. The surgery went really well, and in the coming days my grandpa recovered and healed in record time shocking all his doctors and nurses. Hearing of this news by eavesdropping on the grownups I just smiled. After all there wasn’t anything my grandpa couldn’t do; he was a god in my eyes.

Once my grandpa got home, the family pulled together to care for the man that was usually the family glue....