The Next Scholarship Runner-Up

Another of our top 5 entries for the Red Hill General Store Scholarship:

Bumpin' Up and Down in my Little Red Wagon...
-Jordyn Smith

Hello, everyone! My name is Jordyn, and I am a senior in high school. I belong to a fun-loving, and often crazy, family that believes very strongly in family traditions. One of our traditions revolves around Radio Flyer wagons.

In my grandparents' garage sits an old, beat-up red Radio Flyer wagon. This wagon is at least thirty years old and has carried many a laughing child through the neighborhood during that time. My mom and her siblings pulled each other around in it and decorated it for the annual neighborhood Fourth of July bike parade. But when they all grew up and moved away it sat disused in their parents' garage. Until the grandkids came along, that is.

I remember the days when I could (comfortable) fit into that wagon with two or three of my cousins, being pulled down a bumpy road, yelling "Faster! Faster!" Or just making noise to hear that cool sound that our voices made as we went over the bumps: "Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!"

Some of the best memories I have of my grandpa are of us in that wagon. It's what we used to haul our fishing poles and bait to the canal behind his house. We brought it with us on our walk sin the woods or around the lake, where we would suddenly become "exhausted" and have to be pulled around until we got back to the house. My grandpa loved to take his grandkids for rides in that wagon, and we loved to go with him.

My grandpa has passed away now, but I still carry those fond memories of that red Radio Flyer wagon. In fact, my brothers and I loved it so much that my parents bought one for us to use at our house. So even though Grandpa wasn't around to pull us, we could still pull ourselves and relive the fun. For a while, my youngest brother insisted on using the wagon on his daily forays to find new sticks to add to his every-growing stick collection. It was also great for hauling leaves in the fall. My brothers and I are now a wee bit big to fit into the wagon but we often have small children over to visit, and  they love to ride around in it just as much as we did.

As I look at that amazing Radio Flyer, I remember my childhood rides and Grandpa's house, and it helps me stay close to him and keep his memory alive. I can't wait to keep the tradition going and someday take my future children on rides through the neighborhood in their own shiny red Radio Flyer. I will show them how to make that cool sound as we travel over every bumpy road that we may come across."

"Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!"