"Memoir"

By Alyssa Lykosh

My dad always says to “ work hard and learn skills that make you valuable. ” He tells me that this is how you can really make it in life. I come from a line of very hard workers. I’ ve always been taught how important it is to move the rock yourself. You have to go after what YOU want in life. From the time I was 7 to 9, my dad worked 7 days a week and 12-hour night shifts. He still managed to come to most of the recitals, concerts, and games because it was all just as important to him. But being younger I never really understood why he is sleeping during most of the day when we were all awake then be gone at night. As I got older, I realized he was working for his family, just like his dad did for his. My grandfather was a union carpenter. He passed away from lung cancer in 2012 but before that, he tried to cram as many lessons into my little head as he could. My dad, on the other hand, is still trying. Everything my dad learned about working hard he learned from his dad. He tells me that life is short, he needs to teach me as much as he can while he still can. Every time I’ m with him, and he has the chance to teach me something about anything under the sun, he takes it. One of the things my family is most proud of though is in Maine. Around a hundred years ago my greatgreat-grandfather started building a house there and slowly, it got passed on down the line. My dad worked on it with his grandfather and his dad until it was just him. He goes up and works on that house and that’ s where I’ ve learned most of my lessons. We go up there, and you aren ’t on social media and your phone, you ’ re actually there. My dad shows me all the things he built with his dad and I get to help him fix old things and build new ones. Now that I am getting older myself and have to start thinking more about my own future and what I want it to look like, I think back to what I’ ve learned from my dad. He has taught me how to be strong, independent, and hardworking. He taught me to always give things your all and go after what you want. Because of him, I get to teach my kids one day about how important it is to work hard, I get to tell them about their grandfather and great-grandfather and who they are and were. I’ ve learned some of the most important lessons you can learn in life from my dad, and I could not be more grateful for it.