week seven prompts

30. Take a look at a photo of a person. What do you see?

The way the eyes crinkled because of the big smile showed that she smiled a lot in life. The bright eyes, generous lashes and a few liver spots here and there. Leaning on a cane and wearing a hat to cover his bald head, my grandfather looked incredibly happy.
It's almost like you could see the kindness in his old green eyes. He lived a life that wasn't full of luxury, but you could tell that he still really enjoyed the life he did have.
My grandfather is one of the most generous human beings I know. He won't give me money so that I can go to the mall and splurge, but he has no problem helping me with school and with anything else I need help with. He only asks that I not get into any kind trouble and that I do what makes me happy. He's constantly telling me this:
"I was a banker for 40 years, and I hated every day of it."
He wants his grandkids to be happy, and he's happy when they're happy. 
He has the romantic soul of an artist, and you can see it in the way he dresses. He always looks clean and presentable; like every day is a church Sunday. He has a hat to go with every one of his ties, and every one of his shirts matches perfectly to a pair of pants. The cane he carries is one that my Uncle, his son, made for him. He carries it every day.
In his picture, he's posing with his grandkids. My sister, my brother and I.
I can remember him talking about his childhood; about how poor he was and how he learned to cherish everything he had in life after that. Including his relationship with his grandkids and his kids. He's very involved in our lives, more then some parents are involved in their kids.
I'd never change that for anything.

31. Who's the first person you remember?


His smile has always made me giggle; the way his mustache covered his upper lip, making it oddly look like he had fuzz where a lip should be. His glasses were half the size of his face; his hands the size of baseball gloves and his feet the size of flippers.
He scooped me up and we danced around the living room; him singing off-key and off-tune, as always. My dad loved to sing more then anyone else, even though he was pretty bad at it. I was laughing so hard that my tummy ached.
Mom took out a camera and took a picture of my Dad and I. We both smiled goofy grins.

I ran outside barefoot to my dad's garage where he was fixing his old tractor. He was wearing torn-up jeans and a ruined navy blue shirt.
"Daddy!" I yelled, as I found him underneath the jacked-up tractor.
"What?" He replied in his 'I'm clearly busy' voice.
"What are you doing?"
I could hear his wrench stop tinkering and he paused before he answered, "Holliann, what does it look like I'm doing?"
I made a face, "Sorry. I'm just trying to be nice." I sat down cross-legged on the ground, "What's wrong with Grampy's tractor?"
Dad snorted, "Lots of things."
"Will you be able to fix it?"
"I think so. I just need a few parts."
"Well you can still use the yellow tractor, right?"
"I can, yeah."
"Do you like this one better?"
Dad paused, "Holliann, why are you bothering me?"
I shrugged, "I just wanted to... hang out."
Dad laughed, "Well, I'm a little busy."
"I'll watch." I replied quickly.
He sighed, "Fine. Will you get me a screwdriver?"
"Yep!" I said happily and stood up quickly, "Phillips head?"
"Yeah."
I found the screwdriver on his tool table and handed it to him. His hands are, to this day, permanently stained with oil.
I sat back down and continued to watch him work, "Let me know if you need anything else, Dad."



"You wore this for Cindy's graduation, too." I told Dad as I straightened his tie.
"I know." He replied, "And I'll wear it for Donny's too. I'm not leaving anyone out."
I laughed. This same button-up royal blue dress shirt was one of Dad's only formal piece of clothing. He was wearing it with the same brown suit with elbow-pads that he's worn to every important event he's ever gone to.
I finished putting my dad's tie on and stepped away. I gave him a thumbs up and he smiled, walking away.
I went upstairs and pulled on the flower-print dress that my uncle bought me for my graduation today. It wasn't exactly my favorite dress; it wasn't what I would wear if I could choose, but I knew it meant a lot to my uncle that I was wearing it.
I looked in the mirror and ran a brush through my hair. I had straightened it, but either way, the graduation cap I was going to wear all day was going to ruin it.
My parents were both pretty prepared for this. Cindy was already gradated; Melissa's graduation was a few years ago. They've gone through it before.
I, on the other hand, wasn't ready at all.
I came downstairs and my dad was waiting for me with my cap and gown all ready, he was smiling happily.
Even though it was the third graduation for him, and he still had Donny to come, Dad was very proud of me.

33. Imagine someone you know is taking this course and has decided to write about you. Write their piece for them!

Naturally awkward and shy, she usually hides behind a camera or a pair of glasses. She has a lot of thoughts, and shuts people out far too often. She enjoys many things about life, but all she ever thinks about is fast-forwarding through the next three or four years until she can be done school. She wants to be a mother and a wife, when she's barely had time to be a kid. Even though she has plenty of people who love her and cheer her on, she still wonders if anyone really cares very much about her. She has trouble doing homework and she can't understand basic math. Her favorite thing to do on the planet is take pictures outside. She enjoys working more then school; it's less vulnerable, she says. She doesn't feel stupid at work, she usually feels stupid at school. Learning and growing as a human being is extremely important to her, but she's always felt that school was rather unimportant compared to other things in life.
Sometimes she gets really quiet, as if her thoughts are racing. Her job stresses her out, but she knows she's making a difference in the lives of children. All she thinks about is moving home next summer. No matter where she is in life, she has trouble enjoying the now, but she loves the idea of the later. Never really being very comfortable with her looks, she always puts a lot of thought into her appearance - always to be sure she looks presentable, because she doesn't think she's naturally very pretty. Her sister once told her that she 'hides' behind her clothes and her jewelry, and she doesn't allow anyone in. She has trust issues and issues with being vulnerable
But she's also extremely kind; she's always thinking of other people. She cringes and says a tiny prayer when she sees road kill. More creative then any of her siblings and most of her friends, writing and art has always come very easy to her. But Holliann is always comparing herself to others, and when she sees the 4.0 GPA's that most of her friends have, she gets upset with herself. One friend used to be jealous because she'd work hard on a photojournalism assignment and she'd get an 'it's good' for feedback; Holliann would slap something together last minute and get an 'it's wonderful!' for feedback. Writing and photography has always come very easily to her. Every thing in her life she's ever cared about, she pours her heart and soul into it, which sometimes isn't always a good thing. An excellent work ethic, she's held a job since she was sixteen, and even before that she did plenty of babysitting, blueberry raking and tipping (collecting pine tree branches for wreaths). She feels every emotion so deeply, she's afraid of ever actually falling in love, because she knows the kind of damage it'll do.
Her favorite holiday is (of course) Christmas. She has all of the name of her children planned out; her wedding is mapped out in her mind. She knows everything is subject to change, but she knows she has to have a rough draft. Her favorite music artist is Frank Sinatra; her favorite actor is Dick Van Dyke; her favorite movie 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'; her favorite book is 'The Outsiders'. American History has always fascinated her. She failed three classes for the half year, meaning she had to take them over. One of them she failed on purpose to get kicked off the basketball team. For this class she went to summer school, and had the highest average in the class. She thinks her old English teacher is one of the coolest people she's ever met, and was extremely honored one day when said teacher gave her a hug and a 'Most Improved Award' right before graduation. This same teacher also said that Holliann was 'smart as a whip when it came to writing'. Holliann knows she has talent, but she has very little courage when it comes to showing her writing. This blog makes her feel vulnerable; people can read her deepest thoughts and judge them. Knowing that someone is reading her writing makes her nervous, because it's one of the only ways she truly expresses herself.
Holliann is a lot of things. She's dramatic, she's random, she's spontaneous, she assumes things too quickly, she cries at every sad movie and she is way too hard on herself. But she is constantly trying to better herself. When things are hard, she can sometimes get pretty down and depressed, but she always feels better when she watches The Golden Girls (her favorite show), or calls her Mom. She takes her coffee black. Someone once said that you can tell how old a person is by how they take their coffee; the darker, the older. Even though Holliann is only nineteen, she's an old soul. She likes to have fun just as much as the next person, but it's hard for Holliann to ever be completely content with her life, even though she's young and has so much to look forward to.