Essay Contest Celebrates Kentucky Grandparents

Sue Beeler, 74, has been taking care of children almost her entire life — from younger siblings, to her own children, to grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She also worked as a teacher’s aide for many years.

Although she doesn’t want any special credit for her efforts, she is being recognized this spring. Her grandson P.J. Brock, a fifth grader at Middlesboro Middle School, won this year’s Grandparent of the Year essay contest, sponsored by AARP Kentucky and the Kentucky Retired Teachers Association.

In his essay, P.J. described the sacrifices his grandmother made for the family, such as selling her late husband’s truck to pay for Christmas gifts. “She had to sell the only thing our grandpa/her husband left her,” the 11-year-old wrote. “I learned that sometimes you have to do hard things for the people you love.”

Since 2002, the essay contest has been an annual event for Kentucky fifth graders. The goal is to draw attention and support to the ties between generations, says Greg Roush, KRTA’s executive director.

“So many of our grandparents need to be caregivers or providers for their grandkids,” Roush says. “When you’ve got someone who has basically gone back to being a parent again, that’s pretty special.”

The statewide essay contest winner receives $500 and a trip to Louisville for the annual KRTA convention in April. (District-level winners each receive $100.)

“It’s quite an honor for a fifth grader to stand up in front of everyone and read an essay about their papaw or mamaw,” Roush says.

P.J. says he enjoys spending time with his grandma, whether it’s getting pizza or going to the park. His family has lived with Beeler his entire life. She looks after the kids while his mother works a second shift providing housekeeping services at a local hospital.

Sandy Evans, the writing specialist who encouraged P.J. and his classmates in writing their essays, has known the Beeler family for decades in the small town of Middlesboro, in the southeastern part of the state near the Tennessee border.

When P.J. was working on the essay, Evans says, “I didn’t know the depth of the sacrifices that her grandchildren saw her make.... It was enlightening.”

Beeler says she is happy for her grandson.

“The teacher called and said that he wrote some wonderful things about me, that I always took care of him,” Beeler says.

In his essay, P.J. describes his grandma as caring, kind, hardworking, selfless and loving. “My life would be going in so many different directions if she wasn’t there to guide me,” he wrote.

—David Lewellen