by Jackson Guinn

My father, Aaron Guinn, is stronger than Hercules, yet as gentle as a butterfly. Aaron grew up in a very poor family, always having to work. He worked as a child, a teenager, and he still works to this day. He always had bad siblings, his parents didn’t pay much attention to him, because they were always worrying about his brother and sister instead of him. Aaron got his first real job at age sixteen, and from then until now, he has paid for all of his school, food, and family by himself.

From the year 2013 until very recently in 2019, Aaron felt much anger, worry and stress. He had spent all of the last six years fighting for custody of his children, from a mother who cares nothing for them. He has always loved his children more than anything in this world.

Aaron will do anything and everything he can do to help someone, whether they are friend or stranger. He loves to encourage people to keep trying to achieve their goals. One phrase that he uses to motivate people is, “This ain’t no union break,” a union break is a scheduled break for laborers in an industry, he uses this to say that this isn’t the time to stop working, or take a break. Another thing Aaron has done that keeps me motivated is how he grew up very poor, yet he was still so successful. Aaron still does as much work as he can to help everyone, from then until now he still does as much work as he can, but the work now is harder for him than when he was a child. Doing all of the work as a child and young adult has taken a toll on his body and it hurts him much more to work today. All of what I have stated above is the reason that I consider Aaron the most inspirational person in my life and a star of Elizabethton.

This story is part of a series of articles from Michael Grindstaff’s Language Arts Class at Elizabethton High School.

Students were asked to write about inspirational people in their lives. The Elizabethton Star is proud to share these with our readers.