Amber Hundshamer Family Background Essay Focused Inquiry I 14 September 2014 I’ve always heard the quote “Old soldiers never die, they just fade away.” I had no idea until recently that this quote pertained to my life. I assumed all soldiers stood proud and told their stories. I never knew how much World War II impacted my family. I knew my great grandpa Joseph Jaros went to the VA hospital in New York, but I didn’t know why. I didn’t know he lost his brother, who was killed in action in this war. I didn’t know that my great grandpa Alois Hundshamer II went against his mother country to defend America. Having never met my great grandpa Alois and nobody ever talking about him, I had no idea what his life did for mine. My great­great grandpa Alois Hundshamer I migrated to Syracuse, New York from Germany with his wife before having children. His son Alois “Al” Hundshamer attended Christian schools until college. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1952. After this he went on to become a Marine Corporal in WWII for the battles of Guam and Iwo Jima. After WWII he became a Pharmaceutical Representative for what is now known as Glaxo­Smith Kline. Verna didn’t work. She cared for her children and spent her free time bowling. She was on the chair for the Syracuse Bowling Association and was featured in the paper frequently. During my great­grandfather’s time home he and his wife Verna Hundshamer had eight children. Her son Philip Hundshamer was my grandpa. He was the handy man. He could fix anything and everything. He met my Grandmother Brenda in high school and produced my father David. Brenda “Mima” was pregnant at 16 and continued her high school education and started working at many restaurants. Mima then got a job working as a dental assistant at Dr. Crumb’s office. She remained a loyal employee until this year when she was in a car accident. Grandpa Hundshamer was the handy man of Syracuse, willing to do any job. They stayed together long enough to produce my aunt. She is one of my rocks. She will do anything for me as long as I put in the same amount of effort as her. My Grandfather was a heavy drinker. I remember Teasha and I helped clean out his house of cases of beer bottles and he got a pretty penny from them. I remember he gave me 20$ for helping, but of course as a young child 20$ is like 100$. My grandpa Jaros married my Grandma Jean (Bliss) Jaros. She held a few part time jobs but was a full time stay at home mother of three and then a caretaker for my grandmother’s first two children. My uncle Mike was a reliable employee for Carrier from the time he graduated high school until retirement. My aunt Linda has been working at Lyncourt schools for as long as I can remember. She only had one child, my cousin Jenn. Her husband passed away from cancer while Jenn was in high school, a similar fate would strike another family member soon after. My mother’s parents were subsistent farmers. They rarely had luxuries except when their grandparents took one child (of seven) out at a time for lunch from church. My mom was the only child to go to college. She moved from a small farm town in New York to Syracuse and attended Crouse Irving Nursing School and graduated with her associates degree. She met my father and produced me. Their relationship didn’t last long, they were divorced by the time I was 5. The summer when I was 7 my mom picked us up and moved us to Reston, Virginia for her internet boyfriend, Keith. They now have three children that I consider full siblings, Aundrea, Allen, and Andy. Her mother’s girl children all ended with an A so she decided to continue and have all hers start with A. After a year and a half we moved again to Herndon. This was before any children. When my mom was pregnant and it was almost time for Aundrea to have her own space we moved to Amherst, Virginia. Another small town where even though you live five miles from town you don’t have city water. She was ready to settle down and buy a house because when I was younger we moved from apartment to apartment every year, sometimes more. My dad was the best. When my mom moved me to Virginia he made sure he would get to see me every Christmas break and every summer. Every year, twice a year my mom would drive four hours to Mechanicsville, Pa to meet one of my family members. A few times my dad risked driving four hours without a license to come get me, but mostly it was my aunt and grandma. We would always go to Chuck E Cheese and play games when I went. Every Christmas my dad’s side of the family woud go up to my grandmother’s lake house and have a small party with large amounts of food. He made the decision to leave the world on August 11, 2009. It was a week after I had returned home from New York for school. Everyone in the family gathered for his funeral. Before then I had never met some of my family on my dad’s side. Now every Christmas eve I spend with my Aunt Janet, Aunt Kathy, Uncle Brian, Cousin Teri and their families. I’d have to say my mom is the reason I am here. Without her decisions I wouldn’t be alive. But that’s impossible. Because if my great­great grandpa Alois hadn’t moved from Germany I also wouldn’t be here. I’ve always thanked my mom for getting me where I am. I had never considered that my life relies on all of the decisions my family has made throughout their lives. I’m convinced that it’s my destiny to be a pharmacist, it came from my grandpa Alois II. I owe many thanks to my grandmother. She is another rock of mine. She has always been there to spoil me and always lets me complain to her. She understands what I’m going through all the time. We are the two most similar people I know of. I never realized how many of my grandma Verna’s children have passed away. She’s still going strong after losing a son in a car crash, and unexpected death of another, and losing another in a car crash. She never remembers me on the spot now. I’m always telling her that I’m David’s daughter and then she remembers me. I’m glad I can be that to her. She cherished my dad. She always tell me to tell my mom that she hopes my mom is doing well, although I’m pretty sure she doesn’t remember my mother’s name. At this point I realized I have completely neglected another essential person in my life. Mima, after divorcing grandpa Hundshamer, met the man of her dreams. A Venezuelan, younger man who would father her third child, Chris. He is many of my rocks. I know I can go to him about anything. He helps me in any way possible. One of my fondest memories was when I was younger he would put me in a blanket and spin me around. Sometimes he would accidentally hit me against something. I remember when I started to cry he would tell me he got hurt way worse, and I always believed him. Now he is the youngest established person I know. At 25 he owns his house, his car, and has a full time job advocating against smoking. He would give the shirt off his back to help people. He bends over backwards frequently, literally and figuratively. He was the cheer captain of his high school for two years. His life goal is to please. I hope that I become more like him as I continue growing. It’s hard for me to choose one person or event that has shaped me as a person most, but the most prominent event that shaped my life is the death of my father. He never had the opportunity to go to college, and he always thought I was the smartest person in my family. He also was intermingled with drugs, urging me to become a pharmacist and stress the importance of being sober and proper drug usage. Even though he isn’t here anymore I see how he has shaped my life every day. He was definitely the best person that could have fathered me, and if I were to have the opportunity to exchange him for anyone in the world, I wouldn’t do it. If I had the opportunity to change anything about my life it wouldn’t be him; it would be his decision to leave the world.