Day Nine- Remembering my Grandfathers Two Years Later

Two years ago today my grandfather Aziz passed away. About a month before this, my other grandfather James passed away. It is so strange to think that it has been two years. I look back and reflect about when both of these tragedies happened to me my junior year of high school. The pain will always be there, fresh and cutting. It has taken me a long time to stop remembering the bad and start remembering the good. I was with one of my grandfathers when he passed away, and now that I am two years older I debated whether that was a good thing. Even as soon as last semester, I would be doing something simple, like laundry, and I would get flashes of things that maybe I should not have seen at 17. That was hard to deal with. However, as time passes and memories become blurred, I am thankful to have been there for my grandfathers, as they were always there for me.

I am so fortunate to be on this trip with with such unique and amazing individuals that comprise our Granola Group. Each member from a different family, a family that helped shape their being. A family that defines their background- their culture, and will even influence their future. Each person has their own different story, the first chapters influenced by their family, but the last chapters they can begin to write on their own- independently. 

Looking at all of them, and thinking about how they will change the world, both professors and students alike, makes me think about myself. You are probably wondering where this post is going, but this all relates to my grandfathers. Because I think about them, and how they started out like me and built a wonderful and strong family and I think about how their actions shaped whether I would be sitting here today, and I am so grateful for that. They wrote a story, and although they are no longer tangibly here, the story continues. How will my actions shape my own story? My grandfather Aziz was a world traveler. He came to this country from Iran, and no border could limit his imagination and passion to explore life. My grandfather James was a southern man, who had a heart so gentle that every sunny day envelopes me and reminds me of his warmth. I think about these men and the families they created. They found themselves by viewing life as the most precious gift. I am overwhelmed to think about what I can create in my lifetime. I think about the good I can do for this world and the family I can create so the good continues. We all must pay it forward. I want to explore as they did so I can find myself. Because if I am not sure of myself, then I do not think my potential can ever be reached. On this day, I think about what I have done since that junior year of high school. I am an Alabama girl with a passionate Persian heratige sitting here at the base of the mountains in Wyoming. The sun is shining on my face and with it, I have the strength to explore. I know that throughout my life I will be far from my family, but I can always feel them with me- just like I can hear James's laugh faintly in the wind, or catch a glimpse of Aziz's intense eyes watching over me when the stars come out. I look at my classmates and can't help but think we are all connected in this life, to each other and everything around us.

To me, geology is more about focusing on the things we can't see than that of what we can. I can no longer see my grandfathers, but I can also not see where my future might go. I do know, however, that it will be beautiful. It will be this way because life, with all its good and all its bad, is beautiful. My grandfathers have taught me that. I hope one day, I can teach at least one person that as well.