Grandpa’s Car

Taking this picture was a way of wrapping up my sorrows. My grandpa had recently died a few weeks prior to this photos capture, and I was mourning my loss. My grandpa had meant a lot to me and taught me lessons that I would never forget. One example of a lesson would be when he brought me up on the mound of dirt in his backyard and pointed to all of his land. He claimed that “even though I purchased this land, it still belongs to the animals”. Lessons like these were hard to forget... mostly because he would forget sometimes that he told you them and would keep repeating it. Not only did he just give you good lessons but he learned a bunch of new ones too. One time he decided to cook for my family and I, even though he hasn’t got a whole lot of cooking experience. Needless to say things didn’t work out so well for him and his food. In the end though he learned that you have to keep your eye on the stoce at all times.

Taking this picture on a hot sunny day, I struggled to get over my emotions as I tried to get the perfect angle. I thought about how suddenly this had all happened. One day I was painting in my studio and the next thing I know I am flying home to see my grandpa on his deathbed. I remembered the small fragile smile he showed as he saw me walk through the door, or how he acted so strong in his final moments so that we would know he was okay. Lying on my back in the 2 foot tall grass, a tear rolled down my cheek as I saw one of his beer cans on the dash board. He loved his beer. He would have a beer before he went out to the fields in the morning, and after he got home for dinner. My mind drifted to the days where I was younger and my grandpa tried being a good role model by not letting me see him drink his beer. In turn, that made my sister and I even more determined to sneak a peek. We had crawled under a table in the dining room where we thought he would drink the beer. He must have seen us though because when he flopped down on the chair, he pulled out a Coke rather than his usually Lucky LagerAs bugs crawled into my jeans, I calmly inhaled and looked at my phone to see if I had gotten the angle just right. I could feel the tiny little legs scratching against my skin, but I was determined not to move. I was close, I could feel it. When I saw the perfect angle I clicked the circle on the screen and BOOM, it was done.

There were no edits, no changes, no special effects, and no special gear. It was a simple photo, and it was taken with the car being untouched. It was simple, just like how grandpa was a simple guy. He told us never to forget that most things in life were a privilege and that you had to work hard for good things. I wanted to take this picture originally for myself but now I have framed it and put it on a wall in my grandma’s house so she can look at the beautiful car that represents my grandpa perfectly.

I know that if my grandpa saw this photo, he would laugh his butt off and tell me that he has to start fixing that dead car. He would head out towards the yard and stick his hands in the pockets of his overalls, and whistle as he would decide where to start first. He would slowly get distracted after looking at the sky and eventually forget why he was out there. Walking back inside he would be muttering to himself about wasting time and all that stuff. He would sit down on the couch turn on the TV and ask my grandma for a beer. After drinking the beer he would slouch into the couch and eventually fall asleep.

It’s moments like these that I wish I could’ve experienced before it was too late, but it’s memories captured in a single photo that will last forever.