In “Clearing Paths to the Past” the author tells stories of the past how it is his duty to clear the sidewalk, just like his grandfather did. The narrator believes that we should hold dear to us the hard work people before us have done. We should keep working hard to help everyone else out and they’ll do the same. In “To be of use” the author surrounds their self with positive, hard working people. They don’t stand back while everyone else is doing something. The theme for “Clearing Paths to the Past” is that hard working people are important, just like in “To be of use” the author tells us that we shouldn’t take those who work hard for granted. In “Clearing Paths to the Past” it says that,”She had muscled the farm along while he worked at