Summary:\u00a0 Looking back on one night, when he was twenty.\u00a0 A Bonanza Brand 20th Anniversary Writing Challenge
\nRating:\u00a0 G\u00a0 \u00a0(1,235 words)<\/p>\n
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When I was Twenty\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n When I was seventeen, it wasn\u2019t a very good year; watching Pa suffer the loss of his third wife.<\/p>\n In response to my own mother\u2019s death, he bundled the infant me up and headed west.\u00a0 Six years later, I watched as my stepmother died during an Indian attack.\u00a0 With my infant brother in my arms, we continue west.\u00a0 And now, eleven years later, we have a home on the Ponderosa, but still Pa felt the need to leave; for two months he was missing with barely a word to his three sons.<\/p>\n Pa did return home full of remorse for his actions.\u00a0 Hoss immediately accepted and forgave.\u00a0 I guess you could say I was a little weary, but by that night, Pa and I reconciled.\u00a0 What took more time than either of us expected was Little Joe\u2019s reaction.\u00a0 He ran way from Pa\u2019s outstretched arms, straight to me.\u00a0 It took about two months for Joe to willingly curl up in Pa\u2019s lap of an evening or allow Pa to tuck him into bed without Hoss or myself encouraging him to accept.<\/p>\n #####<\/p>\n Nine months after Pa\u2019s return, he offered me the chance of a lifetime.\u00a0 He\u2019d submitted my school records to the dean at Harvard University and petitioned my entrance.\u00a0\u00a0 On my next birthday I was presented an acceptance letter, as well as a letter from Abel Stoddard.\u00a0 I was going to fulfil my dreams of learning about engineering and architecture, and meet my grandfather.<\/p>\n Quickly, my trunks were packed with only one hiccup. \u00a0The morning of my departure, I found Joe stowing away inside one.\u00a0 With a promise to write weekly, he finally exited my luggage and allowed Hop Sing and I to repack my clothes that surprisingly were neatly stacked in the bottom of my closet.<\/p>\n #####<\/p>\n And now, looking back\u2026 When I was twenty I can say, life was looking\u2026up.\u00a0 Literally.<\/p>\n It was the year-end celebration dinner, honoring those who were at the top of their class, regardless of their field of study.\u00a0 Yeah, I was one of the honorees.<\/p>\n I\u2019d entered the dining hall with my roommate Ashley Benton and a few other friends, who ultimately made their way to other tables, where their families waited, only to find myself alone at a table set for seven.\u00a0 There were name placards for the University President and his wife, as well as me, but the other four chairs only stated \u2018Guests\u2019.<\/p>\n All the tables were full, except for where I sat, which was surprising because I\u2019d heard the President and his wife were always early to greet the students and their family members who could come.\u00a0 The hall quieted when the doors opened allowing their entrance.\u00a0 My chair toppled backwards to the floor when I stood in shock. \u00a0\u00a0Mrs. \u00a0Sparks entered not on the arm of her husband, but rather my grandfather.\u00a0 Next came President Sparks and Hoss, followed by Pa with Joe in his arms. \u00a0I never imagined seeing my family until I graduated next year.<\/p>\n Standing there as my family assembled around the table, Hoss was the first to speak, \u201cYore gonna catch flies if ya keep yer mouth open like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Closing my mouth, it opened again in laughter at Little Joe\u2019s shout of, \u201cSURPRISE ADAM!\u201d to which Pa was too late to cover his mouth.<\/p>\n Pa greeted me warmly with a hug after setting Joe to his chair.\u00a0 \u201cHello Son, surprise,\u201d before pulling me into a hug.\u00a0 Grandfather Stoddard offered me a handshake and a smile, letting me know that he hadn\u2019t been \u2018under the weather\u2019 that morning as I left for school.\u00a0 I knew now of his subterfuge and quietly spoke, \u201cYou\u2019re forgiven.\u201d<\/p>\n Dinner was a rambunctious affair, so like what I remembered back home.\u00a0 What I always imagined as a stuffy dinner was alive.<\/p>\n After dessert and coffee was served, including one glass of cold milk, President Sparks walked to the podium for the evening\u2019s presentation.\u00a0 We sat through the names and accomplishments of many of my peers.\u00a0 Quietly, I wondered when I would be recognized; Little Joe was starting to squirm and try Pa\u2019s patience.<\/p>\n \u201cTonight I am here to not only recognize an underclassman for his accomplishments for his studies but to also announce that one of his school projects is under consideration for an upcoming multi-story hotel to be built in Cambridge.\u201d<\/p>\n Where I would be expecting applause, the room quieted.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t only me who was shocked.\u00a0 I\u2019d never heard of such, and I guess no one else had either.\u00a0 I wondered what Ashley had done to deserve such praise.<\/p>\n \u201cI must say, when the building committee reached out to me, they actually thought the design was so good that it had to come from one of our faculty who didn\u2019t want to be known. \u00a0After doing some internal investigating, we learned that the design was submitted as a practical joke, with the designer unaware.\u201d<\/p>\n I looked towards where Ashley and his family were sitting.\u00a0 Yeah, he knew.\u00a0 Look at his blush<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe committee advised me of the twenty-five designs submitted, the one submitted of an Adam Cartwright design, is among the five finalists being considered.\u201d<\/p>\n It took a moment to realize President Sparks had spoken my name.<\/p>\n Hoss leaned over, \u201cClose yer mouth, big brother.\u201d<\/p>\n Shaking my head, I saw Pa and Grandfather beaming, they knew.\u00a0 That explains their presence.<\/p>\n #####<\/p>\n With Grandfather watching my brothers, Pa and I stopped at a nearby tavern for a private celebration.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what to say,\u201d I said after the barmaid left having set our draughts on the tabletop.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m proud of you son.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut how did you know?\u201d It\u2019s not like we live close to Boston.\u00a0 It takes time to travel from Nevada.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cAbel wired us once President Sparks advised him that your work was seriously being considered.\u201d\u00a0 Pa sipped from the mug, \u201cWe didn\u2019t know you had made it through to the final five until tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut still, to come all this way.\u00a0 The ranch has to be busy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAdam, I also received a letter from Abel.\u00a0 He spoke that you were experiencing a case of homesickness, more so than you had since you arrived.\u201d<\/p>\n Humbly, I nodded.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, hearing everyone else talk of going home for the summer and all their plans of family.\u00a0 It struck harder this year. \u00a0I spoke with Grandfather at length, and accepted that it would be another year before I would see you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCheer up son,\u201d Pa settled his hand to my forearm, recognizing I was still a little homesick.\u00a0 \u201cImagine my son, designing a building\u2026 how tall was it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSeven stories.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a long way up.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA long way from Nevada,\u201d I answered.<\/p>\n \u201cBut you did it, son.\u00a0 You\u2019ve made a name for yourself, a name you can be proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t think Grandfather would write you.\u201d\u00a0 In a way, I still couldn\u2019t believe my family was there.<\/p>\n With a twinkle of the eye that I recognized as \u2018it\u2019s a father\u2019s prerogative\u2019, I accept Grandfathers and Fathers were all of the same mold.\u00a0 And I was happy.<\/p>\n #####<\/p>\n I remember snuggling into my bed that night, doubting that my work would be chosen for the final selection, but I was quite honored for the consideration.\u00a0 Besides, I got to see my family all together.\u00a0 Life was looking up.<\/p>\n Yes, when I was twenty, it was a very good year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Summary:\u00a0 Looking back on one night, when he was twenty.\u00a0 A Bonanza Brand 20th Anniversary Challenge
\nRating:\u00a0 G\u00a0 \u00a0(1,235 words)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":3216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1005,23,30,40],"tags":[1596],"class_list":["post-70059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adam-cartwright","category-drama","category-prequels","category-challenges","tag-20th-anniversary-challenge","wpcat-1005-id","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-30-id","wpcat-40-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/WoF-37Edengirl.jpg?fit=768%2C576&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=70059"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70060,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70059\/revisions\/70060"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=70059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=70059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=70059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}