Journal Three: Michael Trawinski

Part One: So far the reading in Holding On is interesting. For me I discover new things from each of the profiles that I have read so far. I learn about all these different types of people who have amazing stories to tell. What I think is a strength of this book is the fact that these are interview profiles of just average, ordinary, everyday people who have something to share with everybody. What they share is personal stories of themselves of how things like war and the Civil Rights Movement affects them as well as just regular things in life such as what they do for a living. I also like that you get to read about what some of these people do with their life and how they are devoted to things they care about. The stories are also very short, but I am able to get a lot out of them. As of right now, I can't seem to find any weaknesses at all with the stories in the book. While I have been reading, I do come across specific points in each of the profiles such as time periods and locations that seem to be important in describing a scene of which someone tells a story about a particular moment in their life. I am mostly passive with parts of a profile that I may not find important, but most everything in these particular profiles is important as I read.

Part Two: I think that there is one big main theme which I am seeing in each of the profiles that I have read in Holding On and that is each of the people featured are ordinary people who have something they hold onto which is closest to them. Robert Shields holds onto his life, which he records in his diary. Moreese Bickham holds onto hope of getting out of prison and others hold onto their jobs because they love their jobs as it is who they are and what they care about. This particular theme in the book is something which I can connect to my own life. At one point in my younger days, I had lost someone who meant a lot to me: my grandpa. He was always a funny man when I knew him. My grandpa had a way of putting a smile on everyone's face whenever he was in the room with the rest of my family. He played trumpet, danced to music, performed magic tricks, and as a hobby, collected miniature cars and trains. Everything came to a halt twelve years ago. Just about this time of the year that long ago, I learned that my grandpa had finally died from cancer. At this point for me there was nothing to hold onto. I felt as if I couldn't find anything to hold onto. Instead I felt as if my own life had been snatched away from me somehow and that I could never again return because my grandpa wasn't there with me. Days later, my family and I attended my grandpa's funeral with some of my other relatives. I saw my grandfather lying in an open casket. He looked as still as the casket itself. After the funeral I still couldn't believe that he was actually gone and was never going to return. Everything seemed to be a drag for me. The days felt longer. All this was because I couldn't stop thinking about my grandfather. This dragged on for quite awhile until I finally decided to accept that he wasn't going to come back at all. I also realized that the only thing to do from then on is to hold on. From this experience I held on to two very important things. Firstly I decided to hold on to my life. By accepting the fact that my grandfather would never come back, I moved on in life and forgot all about how I felt when he died because it has been a long time since then, so his death doesn't bug me as much as it did then. I also know that eventually I will die, so I decided to make my life great whatever the cost. The second thing I decided to hold on to are the memories of my grandpa. By holding on to those memories I can never forget what he was like. It is as if he still there with me, to help me through life itself. This particular theme of holding on to something that is important to you has a major impact on our lives because we all have something that we need to hold on to so that it may never leave us.