There’s definitely a miscommunication happening. It seemed like we had the same goal but with a different person in mind. So from the top to the pit bottom, we go.

“𝗜 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮 𝗷𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝗿𝗮𝗾 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗲𝗼'𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵. 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲, 𝗜 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆. 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗜 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱, 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. 𝗟𝗲𝗼 𝗮𝗯𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗺𝗲.” Grandpa was talking, his eyes fixed on the floor. “𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗥𝗶𝘇𝗮𝗹.” He remembered it and raised his eyes to mine, seeming a little proud.

But it was short-lived as the mood turned quite serious. “𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝗼'𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 – 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗱.”

‘𝘈 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴? 𝘔𝘳. 𝘈𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘥. 𝘚𝘰 𝘓𝘶𝘪𝘴 𝘍𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦? 𝘈 𝘤𝘰-𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘓𝘦𝘰? 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴? 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘦?’

“𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗮 𝘀𝗼𝗻. 𝗪𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗯𝘂𝗺𝘀 — 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲. 𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀, 𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗮 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗼𝗻. 𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗟𝗲𝗼 𝗰𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗯𝘂𝘁…” In his regretful voice. Grandpa conveyed a mixture of emotions through his facial expression as he spoke to me.

‘𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘱𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘧𝘧?’

“𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗼 𝘂𝗻𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱. 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 — 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝗱𝗲. 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗯𝘂𝗺, 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗹𝗮 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲, 𝗜 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗲𝗹 𝗙𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗻. 𝗔𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗯𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲.”

‘𝘈 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩?’

“𝗜𝗳 𝗜’𝗺 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀.” Grandpa sighed like he only realized that a while ago.

All this information swirling in my mind is giving me a headache. Grandpa continued his perspective and I continued answering