Have you ever been to Ashland City? If so, then you would know that just about every person there could tell you about Lloyd Harris. I was blessed enough to have this man as my great-grandfather. My great-grandfather was a wonderful man. The qualities that Mr. Harris possessed that I think are the most admirable are his tremendous work ethic, his dependability and his willingness to give to others. Unfortunately, he passed away four months ago and I feel that writing this paper will give me an opportunity to honor him and the life he led.
My great-grandfather was always working. He has been working ever since he has been old enough to walk. Lloyd Harris owned his own farm and began providing for a family at the age of twenty. He worked every
My great-grandfather has given my family the opportunity to have everything we have been blessed to have. He gave my parents the land we live on, which for that I will be forever grateful. He even bought my dad his first company, Armstrong Pie Company in Hickman County, Tennessee. When my dad decided to sell the pie company, Mr. Harris gave my dad a job in the bail bonding business, which he still works for today. I will never forget when a lady came up to my mother at his funeral and told her about the day she got behind my great-grandfather at McDonalds and how he paid for her meal. I know that it was just a meal at the local Kentucky Fried Chicken, but the lady said that he did it for her because he watched her count all the coins in her pockets and scanning the menu to figure out what she could afford with the few quarters she had, and that he truly turned her bad afternoon into a great one. It is those small random acts of kindness that can change someone’s day around for the better. Being willing to give to others is important because you just never know what is going on in a person’s life, they could be depressed and feeling as if no one cares about them, and if you even just say something to make them feel better it might keep them from making a permanent fix to a temporary problem. Petway Church of Christ was first established when my great grandparents were extremely young, and they are the sole reason that the church is still up and running. My great-grandfather poured his heart, sole and money into that church that has a congregation of about twenty, just because he wanted to give the people of the Petway Community a place to worship. I believe that he is so willing to give to others because he had to do without a lot for his entire life. Many years ago, a random lady came knocking on my great-grandparent’s door to simply ask about my great-grandfather’s health,
William Hope Harvey was born the fifth of six children on August 16, 1851 to Colonel Robert Trigg Harvey and Anna Limbroux. Called Billy in his youth, Harvey went to school in a log house during the civil war, taught a term at sixteen, and graduated law school at nineteen. The book, “Coin Harvey, Prophet of Monte Ne” by Lois Snelling, was commissioned by the Benton County Historical Society to chronicle Harvey’s life from his birth on a farm in Buffalo, Virginia to the impact he would have on the Northwest Arkansas area well after his death on February 11, 1936 in Monte Ne, Arkansas. This book explores, briefly, the lives of Coin’s neighbors, past and contemporary.
Although, Conventional wisdom dictates that the age at which children started work was connected to the poverty of the family. Griffith presents two autobiographies to put across her point. Autobiography of Edward Davis who lacked even the basic necessities of life because of his father’s heavy drinking habit and was forced to join work at a small age of six, whereas the memoir of Richard Boswell tells the opposite. He was raised up in an affluent family who studied in a boarding school. He was taken out of school at the age of thirteen to become a draper’s apprentice.
...s, his son Thomas, General Josiah T. Walls. He then spent time in the Sentinel office (newspaper) learning about trades and printing, and the publisher became his friend. His first death in his family occurred, and it was mother at the age of thirty-six. His mother continuously had anxieties about worrying about people coming to kill her family, but the cause of her death is still unknown. According to the book, ultimately, Tim was very distraught about his mother’s death. His father eventually dies in 1897, but he accomplished several things before his death: became “city marshal, county commisioner of Duval County, and clerk of the city market.”
Kindness can really make a difference in a person's attitude. In “A Christmas Carol”, the Cratchits and Scrooge's nephew Fred show kindness to Scrooge, even though Scrooge showed quite the opposite to them. Or in “Thank you M’am”, when Ms. Jones makes Roger food and gives him money to buy his shoes, instead of reporting him to the police. Even in “Little Things Are Big”, when Jesus decides to help people even if he has to face prejudism. These stories all show turning points, and these examples show
Written by Randolph B. Campbell and edited by Mark C. Carnes, Sam Houston and the American Southwest tells the story of the life of Sam Houston. Sam Houston, born in 1793 in Tennessee, was a soldier, lawyer, and also one of the founding fathers of the state of Texas. This biography of Sam Houston goes on to describe the life of Sam Houston in topics such as presidential elections he ran in, wars he has fought, friends and rivals of Houston, his personal life, marriages, wins, defeats, and changes he brought upon the United States of America. Sam Houston was liked by the majority of people, he looked up to Andrew Jackson who was his general when Sam Houston joined the army in his 20’s. This book goes into depth to portray to the reader of the type of person Sam Houston was including his strengths, weaknesses, and the fact that he was an alcoholic and despite all that, he was a very intelligent and noble man of U.S. history as we now know.
Philip Livingston was born on January 15, 1776 and was one of the delegates of the continental congress for New York that signed the Declaration of Independence. Philip grew into a wealthy family and received a well education, and even though he wasn’t rich because he didn’t inherit his father’s wealth, he became a merchant and became interested in politics, eventually being involved with them. He would now serve along a few other delegates to the continental congress: Francis Lewis, William Floyd, and Lewis Morris.
During the summer or even on weekends my mom would take me with her to go help out her patients. Which included bathing them, feeding them, and caring for them. Not only did I help my mom with her patients but I would always help rake leaves, pick up trash and make their yard look nice. I can’t even image how they would’ve done all the things I did for them with their fragile bodies. I’m glad I was there for them and made a difference. Aside from helping my mom’s patients. I helped an elderly man who was on fire in his backyard. It was around spring time and I heard someone screaming yelling “help” so I went around to look and there he was on fire. I tried so hard to put out the fire and it felt like mission impossible but I did not give up even though the ambulance were on the way. He was burnt pretty bad, but I was so glad I found him. Who knows it could’ve been worse! He is still alive till this day and sits on his porch waiting for me to pass by his house every morning to say good morning. It’s such a wonderful feeling to know that I not only changed a life but I saved
However, putting that aside, there is a burning question that many people want to know about this broad characteristic: “What makes us want to give, and what is so good about giving?” Well, that’s two questions, but those two questions are very similar and so must both be assessed to thoroughly give an answer. Yes, everyone must be thinking, if someone gives something of his, doesn’t it just take away something from him, doing nothing but harming him? Well, believe it or not, there is a tremendous amount of equally tremendous benefits that come from being generous to all people alike. And when these benefits are presented, the first part of the question will be already, for the most part, answered.
“Sometimes it 's easy to walk by because we know we can 't change someone 's whole life in a single afternoon. But what we fail to realize it that simple kindness can go a long way toward encouraging someone who is stuck in a desolate place.” ~ Mike Yankoski
Throughout my life the lessons I learned from watching my parents have stuck with me. I worked throughout my entire college career, and my junior and senior year I worked full time, not because I needed to but because that is what I wanted to do. I have a very hard time staying idle. I rarely sit still for longer than a couple hours. Today I work full time, go to graduate school part-time and volunteer a 20-30 hours a week for a dog rescue.
Looking back on my childhood experiences and influences I can certainly say that my grandmother had the biggest impact on my development, she influenced my relationship with God and showed me how to live as a Christian woman. She would take me church every Sunday and sometimes I would stay at her house when my parents’ house was not suitable for children, which happened often, because of the chaos and dysfunction of a household that ran on alcohol and drugs. My grandmother gave me reason to live, when there was no will.
For instance, it was an extremely sunny day in Ghana, West Africa, and I had gone out to the well to fetch water. It was while carrying the bucket of water on my way back that I noticed my neighbor’s children fighting over the insufficient amount of food that they had to share. My family and I were not rich but from what I saw, I knew that we were better off than other people I knew. I carried the bucket of water inside the house and came back outside to call the two youngest children that were fighting over the last grain of food. I shared my food my food with them and though it was not sufficient for all, feeding the younger ones alone was better than not helping any one of them at all. There was only little that I could possibly do but by sharing, I had helped them in a great way, even if it was just for the time being.
My frightened siblings and I stood behind my father but something caught my eye. I could see his starving eyes not only for food, but for warmth, clothes, a home, a family. All this that we take for advantage. My dad took him aside and offered to bring him to a restaurant and pay for a meal of his choice. I never realized that I was able to fill my stomach and complain that “I’m too full to walk”, while others like him are out in the cold night starving. What I remember the most about that night was when we left the restaurant and we saw the gentleman across the street. All I could see was his big smile and thankfulness. From then on I would no longer be scared of helping people, but inspired to show compassion and help make a difference. Every year after this life changing experience, my friends and I go downtown to donate and volunteer at the food bank to help people like the man that changed my perspective of life. We also started Christmas hampers that we give to less fortunate families and make their holidays a special one that they could
The most joyous season of the year in our house is Christmas. All the family gets together, gifts are exchanged and we give thanks for all that we have. This Christmas however, was one that I will never forget. If it weren't for the help of a stranger coming to my rescue, my holidays would have been ruined. He reminded me that a little kindness really does go along way.
I also had the privilege of helping with the Meals on Wheels non profit organization. My grandfather used to be a Meals on Wheels recipient and he would share with me how he enjoyed looking forward to their company and a hot meal daily. I volunteered because I wanted to give back and help someone else’s loved one in the same way. It was very rewarding delivering hot meals to people who didn’t have the means of getting one as well as being there for them to talk to. Overall, it was a very humbling experience, it made me realize just how blessed I am and how much I take for granted daily.