A Veteran in the Battlefield

When I was still a child, hearing stories about different stuff had always been my favorite thing to do. I mean... who wouldn't? Listening to different stories, especially those stories that came from someone's experience, had always been fun and aside from that, we can also learn things that we need to know and apply to ourselves.

People all have their own stories, just like you and me, just like our grandparents. Speaking about my grandparents, my parents would usually bring me over to my grandparents' house every weekend to spend some time bonding with them and that's the same case with my cousins. My grandfather was someone who likes to tell stories about different stuff like the Little Red Riding Hood and many more children stories but there was a story that I have heard from my grandfather which was from his own experience.

He wasn't born with a silver spoon as he grew up in poverty. Both of his parents' works aren't high paying: not even enough to feed six mouthfuls in their family. Yes, they were a family of six. He was the oldest of the four siblings. Because of that, he became the breadwinner of his family.

Since he was born in poverty, he never had the chance to go to school to study but he was taught by his parents and other people about how to write, how to read and any basic knowledge.

He would take on some odd jobs to earn some money like helping in carrying some cargos and any work that mainly focuses on one's strength so that he can support their family as well. He only stopped taking odd jobs until one time when the army was looking for people who they can train as soldiers as the soldiers that time was lacking. For a country, having a lot of soldiers in an army is a very important matter especially when it is a chaotic time.

Not wasting any time, he grabbed the opportunity to join the army and later then got accepted. He recounted his time when he was still in the army and kept saying how hard it was but instead of hearing it in a complaining voice, he was full of smiles. After that scene of recounting his time during his training in the army, he directly said, "The training was tough but when I think about the situation my family was in, it made me ignite the desire in me to keep pushing forward and strive for success."

Rather than quitting, he decided to continue forward for the sake of his family. Being raised in poverty, he had always kept in his mind and told his self to continue pursuing success until everything is okay because when you stop at what you're doing in the middle of it all, it would amount to nothing. He always kept his mind full of positive stuff, not letting any negativities affect his state of mind. During his time in the army, he made a lot of achievements like being able to place first when it comes to their rankings which then led to his superiors to recognize his ability and potential.

He was friends with a lot of people in the army on which had become his comrade during their times at the battlefield. They spent their days together in the army with smiles and in the battlefield with teamwork and courage. Death is inevitable and some of his comrades had fallen in several battles.

It was at the time of world war where a lot of his comrades and superiors had fallen. It was a heart breaking scene to witness your comrades falling to their death one after another after getting hit by your enemy's weapon but that doesn't mean you should give up your life as there are still people waiting for you to come back, to come home.

He was one of the lucky people to have survive that battle. Many of them seem to have been lost in their thoughts and they would just become energetic and serious while they're training. It was only until they had their veteran walks with medals on their chests for the surviving members of the world war battle did they weep so hard to let out all of their emotions that was like a huge rock pressing in their hearts.

After that event, he continued to serve in the army and it was only about a few years later that he stopped and resigned from his job. Although he had resigned, he went on to take another job and his family was no longer the same as before who was living in poverty but rather lived a normal life. They weren't rich but they weren't living in poverty anymore. It was also that same year he met my grandmother where he spent a lot of time pursuing her and got her.

The both of them married each other and later on have kids and their kids had us. Me and my cousins were so fascinated by his story that it remained and lingered for a long time in our minds.

By now, I'm already an adult. That story from my childhood was still here but the main character of the story had been long gone. He had died due to his old age and by that time, I was away from them which became the reason on why I didn't get the chance to see him before passing away and that became my biggest regret. That story would always remain in my mind and will always be my favorite story I've heard.

Not all success refers to becoming rich and having plenty of money, it can also be called success when you managed to finish something that you've started. There are times when we find ourselves stuck in a difficult position but there are no shortcuts to success, only by working hard would you be able to get what you want.