Personal Narrative: A Separate Peace
I remember the first time I saw Gene. I had just arrived in South Carolina after moving from New Jersey when my dad was offered a promotion. It was a rainy day, I spent most of it driving, trying to figure out my way around town. For lunch, I stopped at some sort of pub that’s been closed down for years now. When I walked in, it was completely empty except for one boy sitting at the counter all alone. I sat on a barstool, a few down from the boy and ordered a cheeseburger. Trying to remember which road I took to get there, I realized I had no idea how to get back home and the boy spoke.
“Are you alright down there?” I was instantly filled with a feeling I’d never felt before, a feeling that to this day, I can’t fully understand or describe, …show more content…
Not realizing that only half of the school day had passed, I sat in the school parking lot for two hours. I had planned on grading essays on a play we’d just read in my english class, but I couldn’t bring myself to do any thing but think of Gene. Finally, Summer, my six year old daughter and Finny, my eight year old son came to the car. Gene had just been admitted to the hospital this morning and the kids didn’t know yet so I explained to them, with as little detail as possible, what was going on and we drove to the …show more content…
Like if we never met, who do you think you would be today?”
He sat up and stared at me for a few seconds, he took off his glasses while he thought.
“Who would I be without you?”
I nodded and he continued.
“I would still be Gene Forrester, I’d probably still be professor. I just wouldn’t be the same.”
I looked at him and said, “I know, but how would you be different?”
He ran his hand through his hair and said, “ I wouldn’t be complete. There’d be gaps, in my personality, in my teaching, I just wouldn’t be complete.”
He reached out for my hand and we were silent.
Who would I be without Gene? A question I couldn’t answer without him, because without him, I have gaps. I have gaps, he has gaps, but together we fill in the gaps. Without Gene, I would be stuck in the gray areas, I would be me, but I would be an incomplete version of me. I couldn’t answer this question on my own because knowing, by myself, who I really am, is an empty space. Knowing who I am is a gap, but it’s a gap that he fills
“Are you alright down there?” I was instantly filled with a feeling I’d never felt before, a feeling that to this day, I can’t fully understand or describe, …show more content…
Not realizing that only half of the school day had passed, I sat in the school parking lot for two hours. I had planned on grading essays on a play we’d just read in my english class, but I couldn’t bring myself to do any thing but think of Gene. Finally, Summer, my six year old daughter and Finny, my eight year old son came to the car. Gene had just been admitted to the hospital this morning and the kids didn’t know yet so I explained to them, with as little detail as possible, what was going on and we drove to the …show more content…
Like if we never met, who do you think you would be today?”
He sat up and stared at me for a few seconds, he took off his glasses while he thought.
“Who would I be without you?”
I nodded and he continued.
“I would still be Gene Forrester, I’d probably still be professor. I just wouldn’t be the same.”
I looked at him and said, “I know, but how would you be different?”
He ran his hand through his hair and said, “ I wouldn’t be complete. There’d be gaps, in my personality, in my teaching, I just wouldn’t be complete.”
He reached out for my hand and we were silent.
Who would I be without Gene? A question I couldn’t answer without him, because without him, I have gaps. I have gaps, he has gaps, but together we fill in the gaps. Without Gene, I would be stuck in the gray areas, I would be me, but I would be an incomplete version of me. I couldn’t answer this question on my own because knowing, by myself, who I really am, is an empty space. Knowing who I am is a gap, but it’s a gap that he fills