Grass to Grace

I had a close relationship with my uncle when I was little.
Uncle Isaac was so cool; he brought us gifts, drove us around in his car. I recall us constantly standing on the roof of his convertible, enjoying the evening trip. Uncle Isaac was rich but it wasn’t always like this. My mum used to tell us his journey and how he moved from grass to grace so as to inspire us to work hard and smart.

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Where my mum is from, family stays together and I’m not talking about just immediate but extended family also, uncle isaac and my mum grew up together but he moved to stay with some other relatives when he was 11. Things weren’t so good for his dad and mum, well they were kinda poor so a relative decided to take him in, to train him in school and take care of his feeding in exchange for his services. He was supposed to clean, take out the trash, and do the laundry for the house. The family he stayed with had just a daughter and she was little.

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Uncle Isaac moved in with expectations of starting a better life but unlike his expectations it was totally different. This family did not desire assistance, but rather a slave. He performed almost everything around the house, including cleaning, laundry, cooking, and bathing the child. As if that wasn't enough, the family had a convenience store that the woman was meant to run; she was a stay at home mum and her husband had a white collar job, so from his earnings he rented and set up a store for his wife. Her only job was to take care of it and the baby, to not stress her self more was the reason why Isaac was brought down to the house, but she handed everything down to him. The hard labor went on for a while but Isaac endured for the sake of his parents because he knows if he goes back it’ll be like starting over.

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Uncle Isaac stayed with the family until he had written his junior WAEC. After the junior WAEC, pupils usually have a considerable break before returning to school. Students usually utilize this break period to study, rest, or do anything they like with their free time before classes resume, but he did something different with his: he persuaded the husband to let him learn how to cut hair in the barber shop across the street. It took him a bit to figure it out, but once he did, he was able to make his own money.

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From his handiwork, my uncle educated himself through secondary school and university. He chose to study accounting and was lucky enough to be employed at shell when he finished. His life changed; he now had food, clothing, a home, and money, and despite all of his hardships, he turned out to be the best uncle I've ever met.

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I sometimes wonder what would have happened if he had given up or used his bad luck as an excuse to do illegal things, but he didn't since all he wanted was to succeed, which he did. His story inspires me to work hard in order to reach my goals.

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