Life Changing Moment

We all have those moments that will change not only our lives and hearts forever. The past six years of my life have been filled with these moments. When the word cancer was first introduced to me, I had no idea what an impact this disease would have on my life at the time.

The year was 2015 and in my mind it was going to be one of the most pivotal moments in my life. I was turning 16, getting my driver’s license, inching closer toward adulthood, gaining my independence, and free from adult responsibilities and worries. What I did not know was that one catastrophic event would have such a devastating impact on my life.

I know that he’s always watching me now. I was living life just as normally as the other 10 year old. That was until my grandpa had been acting up in the following weeks of my 11th birthday, he was not being his normal self. He underwent a CT scan in early December, and it revealed a tumor on his brain. He underwent surgery to remove the tumor and lost his beautiful, prized hair. Not many men could grow hair like he could. He was recovering well from surgery, and according to the doctors, he would have 6-12 months to live. All was well I was until I was in Fort Wayne, Indiana for a hockey tournament with my PeeWee A team 6 weeks later. My father had received a call from my mother, who was my grandpa’s daughter. She told him that a tumor had regrown behind one of his eyes, and it was the size of a softball. They had no choice but to put him on life support because the tumor rendered him brain dead, and let everyone say their goodbyes. “Feed the good wolf,” was something he would always say to us kids. He loved that saying. He lived by it. I lost the man I wanted (and still strive to) be like. He was the perfect grandfather, and although his life was taken from him at the age of 63 by some horrible disease, he lived a full life. On the dark, candle lit night of January 14th, 2012, I realized how precious life is, and I chose to “Live Like Larry.”

This essay is based on an event that changed my life forever. It is a passage that is mixed with feelings and emotions. This experience gave my life a purpose and a sense of direction. It allowed me to grow from a boy to a man in just one day.

My Grandfather died on December 5th, 2015. I was 15 at the time and I had only just started highschool as a junior a few months prior. I didn’t get to see him recently before his death, nor was I able to say goodbye to him before his passing. Instead, I got to wait patiently while the man I respected for so long took his last breath. I watched as he passed away, right in front of my eyes.

After time, my family had gotten use to seeing him with his pale skin, drooped face, and the inability to be active. My family and I were use to caregiving at this time in his life. Such as, helping him to the bathroom, changing the bandages on the cancer sites, and eventually feeding him. Looking back on it now, I didn’t realize how much suffering he went through until I think about all the things he could not do on his own. Eventually, we had to hire a professional caregiver. Good Samaritan Hospice was such a big help to my family and treated my grandpa with the proper care. Hospice care was with him from April to October of 2016. The last two weeks of my grandpa’s life was the hardest thing I have had to go through so far. In his last days I miss sharing “ I love you’s” with him. This was such a special thing for me to hear from him because he was always the type of person to hide his emotions. He had always believed that love was shown through actions rather than words. Hearing it for the first times from him felt overwhelming because through my childhood I never heard him express affection with his

One day my dad came home from work. He looked really upset and didn’t seem like himself. Him and my mom told my brother, sister and I to come to the kitchen because they had bad news. “Kids, your great grandpa was diagnosed with lung cancer yesterday.” My mom told us with watery eyes. “Yeah,” My dad started, “We just found out this morning.” This was very upsetting and depressing news for my family and I to hear, but we all got through it together. We did this by going to see him as much as we could, even thought he lived three hours away from

Trying to acquire something new it's not always will be as expected, as will now be discussed a pivotal moment in my life when I failed in the baccalaureate exam, it changed my perspective to life it self and gained an important lesson about life.

My mom gave us a hug and a kiss, got in her car and drove off to the nursing home. The next 45 minutes where probably the hardest time I had ever experienced. I paced back and forth, not knowing what to do with myself just anticipating a call. Soon enough that call came, my mom called my dad and told him the bad news. It was on that day, February 22nd 2016, when I realized that throughout the journey that we had all gone through I had learned what family really and truly meant to me. It meant people who were supportive, willing to love others and were able to be rock for someone during any kind of situation whether it be a important moment or a bad time like

When I was seven I was running and someone pushed me and I fell and hit my head on a window seal and cut my head open.I was immediately rushed to the hospital and when we got there we sat in the waiting room and I was dripping blood all over the floor so when the nurses noticed they ran and got the tool to get my head fixed and i had to get eight staples in my skull.They did it in the waiting room because they said if I lost anymore blood I could have passed out.

One of the most life-defining experiences that I’ve ever been through happened during the summer before my freshman year of high school. Back then, I was living in Marshall with my dad and my two younger sisters. Marshall isn’t that big of a town, merely hosting 400 residents. Everyone had a connection with one another, including my classmates and peers. We were all friends because each and every one of us knew better than to exclude another person, especially because there wasn’t enough of us kids around to form cliques. We’d entertain ourselves by endless games of basketball, storytelling, and late night outdoors games. In the small village of Marshall, us kids always found a way to have fun together.

My parents told me that grandpa would be at home because he was no longer in therapy. On the way in I thought that my family and me took really good care of grandpa and that's why he had gotten out right around the time of the Notre Dame game. I was stoked to have my grandpa watching it with us. Even if the team wasn’t going to win I knew it was still going to be a fun time with the whole family. We all ended up sitting in the living room of my grandma's house. We all watched the football game with my grandpa. I was super happy to know that my grandpa wasn’t in the hospital but was back at home. My grandma told my family and me that grandpa changed after our visit, this made me feel proud that I was part of grandpa getting home. Taking care of my family is very important to

On June 3rd of last year, my grandmother had informed us that she had been diagnosed with lung cancer and she had a tumor on her lungs the size of a medium sized marble. This day on June 3rd just so happened to be her 60th birthday. A day that was supposed to be filled with nothing but joy for my beloved grandmother turned into a day filled with pain for my entire family. Through everything, no matter the situation, she would always remain positive. Though we were crying, she explained to us that everything happens for a reason and that we shouldn't be upset because she wasn't going anywhere for a long time.

My grandfather and I didn’t see each other on the daily basis because we use to live eight hours away from each other. Yet, when my grandfather would visit me from time to time and I would be the most joyful teenager in the world. My grandfather and I would have endless talks about soccer but they wouldn’t last forever. Suddenly, my parents informed me that we would be moving to Houston. I was amazed with the extraordinary news because I would

That night that he was put in the hospital my mom drove my sisters and I to our Gogi and Pawpaw’s. My grandparents were very open to three of their grandchildren moving in, while our parents were unable to have us. When they took my sisters and I in the differences in our life styles clashed, my grandparents had scheduled dinners while we ate whenever everyone was home. Our grandparents had their days planned two days before while we had no idea what we would do the next day. Living with them really opened my eyes to how we should take others in and try to help them with