Family Story

As a few bloggers have mentioned before me, my family was never big on passing down stories of our family history from one generation to the next. As I sit here typing this, not one story about my family history or ancestry comes to my head. There are, however, a few stories my parents have told me from when they were growing up. One in particular sticks out:
My dad likes to tell this story from his childhood. I'm not sure how old he was at the time, but I do know that he was very young. My dad has 2 brothers (one older and one younger), and a younger sister. One day, my grandpa (my dad's dad) took the kids on a trip to the convinience store to pick up some things. Upon getting close to the entrance of the store, they saw a man run inside and promptly hold-up the cashier, threatening him with a gun. My dad and his family froze. My dad's older brother (the oldest of the kids), my Uncle Tony, lost his head and began running down the street, screaming for the cops. Letting him go, my grandpa said he was going to go inside and try to alleviate the situation. My dad, keeping his own head, took his younger brother and sister into the car, where they stayed until the situation was under control. Everyone came out okay, though I cannot remember if the robber was aprehended. In the end, they still had to go looking for my Uncle Tony, who ran down the street and out of sight.
The moral my dad likes to point out in this story is that you should always keep a level head in situations that put you under pressure. When they arrived at the store, instead of freaking out (like my Uncle) my dad did as he was told by his father, and kept calm and watch over his younger siblings.
Long before I heard this story, I knew I had this trait. I almost never lose my head over something. I take a deep breath, and take whatever situation ahead of me by the horns. Even so, this story and its moral of level-headedness stick with me to this day, and will continue to do so.