My grandfather had been talking about his time in the service since before I could remember. Until recently I had never cared about what he said. I had become curious about everything my grandfather Steve had said. I had heard stories that intrigued me and realized that the information he was talking about was actually important to our family history. He painted a picture in my mind of the time when a war had just started when he was in high school. He told me everything was mass chaos, he still didn't know what to do with his life. He ignored it at first, went to college for a year, and got married to my grandmother. Steve told me that college just wasn't something he wanted to do. After a failed attempt to enjoy college, he decided he would join the Air Force. His father had been a pilot in World War II, and it had always been a dream of his to follow in those footsteps. I was curious as to where it was first placed. He went on to tell me that he was at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, for his basic training. One of the saddest stories I remember him telling me was that he couldn't pursue his dream of becoming a pilot because he lacked perfect eyesight. Although, one of the funniest stories he told me came from this, he had been trying to memorize the eye chart to pass the eye test. Even though he wanted to be a pilot, he still enjoyed working as an air traffic controller. “What does an air traffic controller do?” I asked. “Well, we shipped and received at the airport,” he replied. I never knew what it was, so I was quite amazed, it seemed like a fun job. Although basic training wasn't entirely fun for him, he left his wife at home in Kewanee...halfway...for the reason that they wanted to raise their family, in their hometown. From this, I learned that family is important no matter where you are. Steve told me that leaving the service could have been a disaster, but that it helped him create a good, stable life for his children. He and his wife now agree they made the right decision in deciding not to continue serving in the Air Force. He continues to believe that service is important to keeping this nation intact. It painted a vivid picture for me of what it means to have a family and to have served for our country. Through the stories he told me, I learned that it's okay to not always know who you are. Steve taught me that life is an experience to grow from and also to gain a better perspective of who you are. For Steve, he realized that his family was the most important thing to him.