A Farm Girl from Taylorsville- Rebekah Bowman

“Being a hero isn’t being a celebrity, it’s being a good person.”

                   -me

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            My great-grandma has lived in Taylorsville, Utah, her whole life.  She had six siblings, with which she would play tag and hide and seek while her parents worked on the family farm.  The whole town of Taylorsville was full of farmers who owned farms.  The whole town would be very grateful for their farms in what was to come.

            The Great Depression was a horrible time when there wasn’t much money or food.  Many people wandered the streets of big cities, jobless, homeless, and foodless.  The people of Taylorsville now needed their farms more than ever.  Keeping some food for themselves, they sold food for money to the travelers that came by.  My great-grandma helped the best she could to get enough for the family.

            World War II struck, and she watched as all the boys in her high school disappeared to fight in the army.  She and her family continued working on the farm, and my great-grandma went to her girl-filled high school.  Soon, the war ended, bringing home only a few of the boys that left the school.

            After the many trials, my great-grandma watched as Taylorsville changed before her eyes.  Farms were sold and ripped up to build buildings, the farmers’ children moved on to be business owners, and her siblings got married and moved away.  After eloping against her family’s wishes, she continued her life in Taylorsville.  She’s still there now, ninety years old and fully healthy.

            My great-grandma is an exception to the criteria because she wasn’t really doing anything for the government or whatever; she was a good example of going through hardships with faith and determination.  I think that makes her a hero, even though she didn’t save someone’s life or fight in the army.

            I’ve learned through my interview with her that there is a way through every trial, even when it seems like there’s no hope whatsoever.  She’s taught me to crochet, which I have learned I love.  She has given me knowledge to use in my life, not to keep cooped up in my mind and spit out on a test.

            My great-grandma might not be known to the world, but she’s known to me.  She may not have made a huge difference in the world, but she’s made a huge difference in me.  That’s all that really matters.  You don’t have to be Superman to do the right thing.