My grandpa is quite a character, that is a character with a big temper. The maddest my grandpa has ever been at me ended with him not talking to me for a few weeks. He once got in a political argument with my parents and didn’t talk to them for weeks as well. His temper has clearly caused trouble. You could say it caused a division in the family and forged a family feud. You could also say it started his heating and cooling business and got intense jobs done. Sometimes it’s hard to see through tough skin. As a kid, I thought that people were straight-forward and I didn’t catch sight of the relationships I had with them. But as I’ve matured, I notice that people can surprise you. My grandpa is one of those people. He has a big temper yet also caring, just hidden deep down. 

Just like everyone else in the summer of 2020, the global pandemic wiped my plans for the summer away. I wanted to use this time to make some cash, so I took on my grandpa’s deal to work as his assistant on his farm for three days a week. I worked from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and was paid $10 an hour. I had done farm work on his property before, but this time it was for money, so now my grandpa was serious. 

His temper and the 90-degree weather started the job off to a bumpy ride. I got hissed at left and right for grabbing the wrong tools and not listening correctly. My grandpa’s yelling didn’t bother me that much, I had gotten used to it from previous years and just learned that it was his way. Along the way, I wished time would pass faster. I sweated through my only pair of jeans in the heat and tried to stay sane while I pretended like I knew where every tool was. The time went by slowly as I worked, but it felt like no time when it was already close to the end of the summer. By the end I was greasing machinery, brush hogging fields, terribly welding, and tearing apart air-conditioning units. As I worked alongside my grandpa, I could tell that he enjoyed my company. As I think about it, I’ve always assumed that my grandpa’s yelling was signs of anger and precaution, but it was because he really did care about me. Not only that, but after a long day of work, he always pointed out what I had done and I could see it in him that he was proud. He was proud that I had learned difficult tasks, but I could also tell he was proud of the person I was becoming and who he’s helping me become. My summer job with him truly taught me more than just farm work. It helped me grow closer to him. Describing a relationship you have with someone is hard to put into words. Grandpa is someone that I’ve shared a lot of time with and learned a lot from. The love I feel for and from him is something that I know I’m lucky to have.