Not many teenagers take the chance to interact with the elderly. Ever since my sophomore year of high school I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to do so. My dad has always had a knack for finding me odd jobs around the small town in which I live. As our town’s police chief, he interacts with the community often. While checking on an elderly woman, it came to his attention that she needed someone to complete a few odd jobs for her. My dad knew the right individual to fill this position. It so happened to be me. The day I arrived at her house changed my life in profound ways. Margaret was 97 at the time, legally blind due to macular degeneration, and widowed but very inviting. That Sunday afternoon, I learned what I would do for Margaret each week. Before Margaret was legally blind, she was an avid reader. She volunteered in our local library organizing books and serving others in our small town. This time it would be my chance to return the favor. Each week I was to read her the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) catalog. I spent two hours each week reading these catalogs to her. It took us many weeks to get through one catalog, partly because of the length, but also …show more content…
From the combination of the extensive number of historical books Margaret has read and the historic events she has witnessed, Margaret has become a true font of knowledge. She could talk forever about the Civil War or Queen Elizabeth I. From our talks, I was able to translate my textbook knowledge into something more human and personal. For instance, Margaret found Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s fireside chats comforting to her during the dark time while her husband was fighting in the Second World War. My conversations with Margaret were a reason I was able to score a 5 on the Advanced Placement United States History