Grandpa Newman

My Grandpa Hawkins is one of my favorite relatives.  He is my mother’s father and one of the best men I have ever had the privilege to know.  He is the only grandpa I had growing up and he is more than I could ever ask for.  My grandparents often babysat me when I was younger and we always went to the cabin with them when I was growing up.  His favorite thing to do is fish and when I was younger, he taught me how to fish, to bait a hook, to change a lure, and so much more.  When I was little I always used to like to ride around in the boat with him and play with the minnows in the bucket until he needed another one.  As I got older though, I would actually fish with him and still enjoy doing so every now and then. 

He always has the best stories about growing up and will remember every single detail when doing so.  Now that I am older, he will tell me more than he used to, much to the chagrin of my grandma at times.  I think it was a story involving hitchhiking and being so bored that he and his friends were smoking the grass on the lawn.  Most of the time, his stories are humorous, but there are also a lot of lessons to be learned from them.  He is big on hard work and everything, but he also emphasizes being thankful for what you have and getting the most out of life.  For him it is all about enjoying the simple things and not asking for more, which is something I think most people can learn from. 

He is also one of the most patient and kind people I have ever met.  He has an extremely even temper and I cannot think of one time in my entire life where I have seen him get angry.  This seems so strange to me that someone wouldn’t get angry every now and then.  I asked my mom once if it was just because he was older now or if he had always been this way.  She told me that she had only seen him get mad twice in her entire life and that both times were for good reason.  You would have to have an incredible amount of patience and control to only get angry twice in 50 years.  I cannot imagine what that would take, and can only commend him for that.  I aspire to gain even one tenth of the patience and kindness that he has for other people.  I am so lucky that I have grandparents that are in their late 70s and still very healthy both mentally and physically, so that I can enjoy many more years with them and appreciate our time together.