This week’s discussion dynamic was very stimulating. I appreciate Professor Bussell’s efforts to promote an environment where open discussions can take place and people can freely express their opinions and thoughts. I was particularly touched by the book discussion, led by Monique, Stephanie, and Kyle.
The subject of the way we communicate with our older relatives through language and the implications this can have for relationships. In “The Horned Toad,” the main character expresses fear of his grandmother, based on his difficulty communicating with her, but things change when she comforts him when he is sad. He explains that everyone in his family started to spend more time with his grandmother after seeing the connection between the main character and his grandmother. Everyone tended to be more grateful of the responsibility of taking care of their grandmother. I think the theme of this story is really beautiful. It’s always nice to see the growth of appreciation of our parents and grandparents.
Personally, I carry guilt in regards to my relationship with my deceased grandmother. I think as I was growing up, I did not understand the intricacies and complexities of her personality in the proper context. My grandmother grew up in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II. I remember visiting her childhood home and finding bullet holes in the kitchen table that had come from warfare that had taken place in her very backyard. The bunkers in the field behind her home still stand. The town she grew up in is small and very modest, with little to do other than the daily routine. She did describe times when she didnt know when her next meal would be. She remembers hiding from soldiers doing inspections in houses. She was also fluent in German, having been forced to learn it in school. Only now in my current state of maturity do I understand the impact of the horrors that I know my grandmother had to endure. I also understand that there are many untold stories that have impacted her as well.
I used to dislike visiting my grandmother because of how she would force me to finish my food before I left the table. There are reasons behind the behaviors of hers that I did not like and refused to understand. I’m thankful that I know these things now and can find some peace in them. However, I will always wish that I could have told my grandmother this before she passed.
The subject of the way we communicate with our older relatives through language and the implications this can have for relationships. In “The Horned Toad,” the main character expresses fear of his grandmother, based on his difficulty communicating with her, but things change when she comforts him when he is sad. He explains that everyone in his family started to spend more time with his grandmother after seeing the connection between the main character and his grandmother. Everyone tended to be more grateful of the responsibility of taking care of their grandmother. I think the theme of this story is really beautiful. It’s always nice to see the growth of appreciation of our parents and grandparents.
Personally, I carry guilt in regards to my relationship with my deceased grandmother. I think as I was growing up, I did not understand the intricacies and complexities of her personality in the proper context. My grandmother grew up in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II. I remember visiting her childhood home and finding bullet holes in the kitchen table that had come from warfare that had taken place in her very backyard. The bunkers in the field behind her home still stand. The town she grew up in is small and very modest, with little to do other than the daily routine. She did describe times when she didnt know when her next meal would be. She remembers hiding from soldiers doing inspections in houses. She was also fluent in German, having been forced to learn it in school. Only now in my current state of maturity do I understand the impact of the horrors that I know my grandmother had to endure. I also understand that there are many untold stories that have impacted her as well.
I used to dislike visiting my grandmother because of how she would force me to finish my food before I left the table. There are reasons behind the behaviors of hers that I did not like and refused to understand. I’m thankful that I know these things now and can find some peace in them. However, I will always wish that I could have told my grandmother this before she passed.