Narrative Essay
The Big Understanding
From the time we are born we are engraved with this sense of size. That is to say that everything we do is big and it makes an impact, or growing up you hear ‘’Oh wow, you are getting so big.’’ When you get a good grade in elementary school it is a big deal. When your parents take you to Mcdonald’s you want a mighty kids meal rather than a happy meal because that’s what the big kids get. We want to be big and everything we do to be a bid deal because we are taught that bigger is better.
When I was in elementary school, I knew this family of kids one of who was in my class. Everyday, these kids walked to and from school whether it was raining, snowing, or 120 degrees out. Everyone knewt they were not very well off compared to most of the other kids. They often wore the same clothes at least a couple times a week and looked as though they rarely showered. None of these children were bad kids by any means, albeit the older boy was in the principal’s office from time to time for common shenanigans, but he was not a bad kid. They all had an uncanny disposition given their circumstances.
When I was in second grade, my friend Alex’s mom Carla, along with my own mother a and a couple others of friends, were organizing this absolutely massive yard sale. It wouldn’t even fit in the yard, and in fact, it had to be put in this giant garage/shed kind of thing that was bigger than any of our houses. I told my mom I thought we needed to go through and get some of the better clothes they had all gathered up and send them to these children because they were so lacking in proper clothing. Mom agreed and when the children received the clothes I was praised up and down from my mother, my teachers, the principal, and even the superintendent. What I had done was a big deal to all of which my response was, “It just needed to be done.” We had tons of people standing around to talk about how rough these kids had it, but that’s all anyone ever wanted to do about it. It was not a big deal. It was simply one human being seeing a need in another’s life and making a conscious decision to try to help improve their condition knowing he had the ability to do so. I couldn’t grasp why everyone thought this was a big deal.
I have some family that live in Arizona. My cousin Kerry, his wife Kyla, and their son Reizo all live in Flagstaff. Every summer and some springs, they fly to Missouri to come spend some time on the family farm, and it’s always a good time. We get a lot of fishing done and eat a lot of good food and play lots of music.
There was one summer, the summer before I went into sixth grade that I was able to fly out to Flagstaff to see them. It was the first time I had ever flown on a plane or had the chance to go anywhere farther than Arkansas. I thought it was a big deal. We were able to do lots of things there in Flagstaff. We went to an indoor rock climbing gym, we went to some of the local shops downtown, and ate at lots of great restaurants.
The second day I was there we took a trip to the San Francisco Peaks which are about 45 minutes outside of Flagstaff. Normally, it’s a very popular spot for skiers in the area. However in the summer it gets warm enough that all the snow is gone save for some that is in the shade most of the time. The owners still leave the lifts and the little restaurant inside open just to make a little money in the off season. They take anyone up on the lift that wants to go up the mountain just to check it out which I thought was pretty cool. After about a ten minute ride up the peak and being forced to let go of my fear of heights, we arrived at the top. Above tree line I could see Flagstaff miles and miles away where the air was crisp and clear. At the very top of the mountain were some small trees that looked more like bushes called bristlecone pines which a guide told us were like 1400 years old. All of this was so fascinating to me and beautiful as well. I wanted to see more of this beautiful part of the country.
The next day we took a trip to the Grand Canyon. We drove about an hour to a railway station that the Grand Canyon Tour Company owns. It’s merely an old fashioned train to ride to the Grand Canyon. It was really cool I thought, and after watching the scenery go by and seeing herds of rancher’s cattle, we arrived at the Grand Canyon. We had to go through the process of tickets and getting through the gift shop, but finally I could see a great viewing area just up a small incline, and I immediately went this direction. Along the way the first thing I noticed were squirrels everywhere coming right up to people. I saw a sign that said, “Please do not feed the squirrels,’’ and I realized why they were so friendly. Finally, I reached the top of this small hill and began to see one of God’s greatest creations. It was incredibly huge. The river running through it was the brightest blue. Although it was disappointing at first, after about five minutes I could not figure out what was so great about this place until I saw about halfway down a person riding an animal. Even though they were only about halfway down I could just barely make out what this little speck was. That’s when I realized that this place, this thing, this hole in the ground was so immense my eyes could not even perceive its depth. I said to myself under my breath, “This is a big deal.” All my life I had been told how big and great I was and finally, I had proof of otherwise. I had verification I was so small and so insignificant I couldn’t even realize it without the aid of someone almost a mile away I could barely see. Even though that person will never know what they did for me in helping me see what I do now, it just goes to show that every little piece plays a part in something much bigger
