My grandmother and I had just moved into a row-home in Olney, North Philadelphia, which meant I had to go to a new school in a bad neighborhood. She volunteered to walk me to my school, Incarnation of our Lord, because she did not want a twelve-year-old walking around the neighborhood by himself. As we were strolling down the sidewalk, I was looking for anything to distract me from my anxiety caused by the unfamiliar surrounding. That was when I noticed two men trading cash for something that was in a small bag, containing a white powder.

 

“Grandmom, what are those two men doing?”, as I look up squinting due to the glare on my glasses.

 

“Noel, keep walking and do not even glance at those men.”

 

“But why? What are they doing?”

 

I genuinely did not know what they were doing, but I knew it must have been bad based on my grandmother’s response to my curiosity. She did not want me to understand what the two men were doing,

 

“Noel, promise me you will always be good, and you will never be like those men.”

 

“Okay, grandmom, but can you please tell me what they are doing?”

 

“Those are two men that have made the wrong choices in life. Unfortunately, you will see them quite often in this neighborhood, and they may even tempt you one day,” she explained to me as we were approaching the school.

 

“I will try my best,” I say, still unsure what those men were doing.

 

I was confused and did not expect my questions upset my grandmother, but I knew she was only looking out for my well-being.  Now aware of the type of people to avoid, I made a promise to my grandmom that I would always make the decision that she thinks would be right. I trust her. She had always pushed me in the right direction, and I knew that was what she was trying to do in this situation.

As I began to put together what she was saying, she looked down to me with a brooding look on her face and said, “You have so much potential, Noel. If you can avoid the choices that those two men made, you can achieve so much with your life.”

She always told me, “Success in life directly correlates with the decisions that you make, so use these men as an example of what not to do.”