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Change In Life : My Most Changing Impact On My Life

Decent Essays

We all have had situations and events that have affected us throughout our lives, whether they were a dramatic occurrence or a quiet revelation. My most influential situation that has had a lasting impact on my life would have to be almost six years ago now, the week I first truly learned what it is to be responsible. This event taught me that although situations may not always be ideal, we can learn a lot about what we are really capable of just by making it through.

We found out my grandfather, Doc, had to travel all the way to Gainesville, Florida in order to undergo a new and potentially lifesaving surgery from the only doctor certified to complete it: the doctor who came up with it in the first place. Thus, my mother, who acts as his caregiver, had to accompany him on his plane rides there, as well as stay there until he was well enough to travel back. There were a few problems with this, however; as my grandfather was not the only person my mother was in charge of taking care of. My grandmother also happened to require daily assistance as she received daily in-home peritoneal dialysis and was unable to administer it herself, as she was also an amputee, wheelchair-bound, and diabetic. The location of her home ruled out outside assistance, and with my mother having to travel to Florida for unknown amounts of time, that left the responsibility to the only other person who was certified in the family: me. Although this was truly not that much of a change for me, as we lived together and I already administered it daily as a sort of chore, this would be the first time I would be the only one present if something were to go wrong. Unfortunately, my father was not living with us at the time, as he had fallen ill to what has torn apart countless families through time: alcoholism. Because of this, we rarely ever called upon him for aid, as he was incredibly unpredictable and suffered from lack of good judgment if alcohol was in the picture. Saying this, there were times we were forced to, and this is one of them. My little brother, age eight, also lived with my grandparents at the time. Since I was already going to be incredibly busy taking care of things when my mother was gone, she decided that my brother

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