My Big Brother

Something in my stomach was telling me I would not see him. I did not tell anyone this though just in case I was wrong. But I was right I always have a way of knowing these things. He heard a knock on the door. A feeling of relief washed over everyone except me. The person at the door was the only policeman in town and Frank the town leader. My mom could not keep it together. It is a hard sight to see when your mom is sad. The person you look up to when you are a kid is crying. That can mess a 6 year old kid up. The time that would take place next went from 0 to 100 so fast. We cremated my dad's body and moved. My mom picked texas because it had good schools. We did not have any family though and sometimes I felt as if that was a bad decision. My mother would not tell me how my dad died until I was 16. Not living without a dad can be hard. When it is at the crucial age of 6. You need a good role model. My brother became my dad if he liked it or not. Everything that happened in my life seemed like a blurr. The fact my dad was dead never really hit me. But it hit me so hard and so fast. It was like a brick wall. I started almost failing my classes, sleeping all the time, eating a lot, not exercising, moping all the time. I still suffer from it today. Back then though I wanted to die. But it is so much better. I learned that I held my mom accountable and my dad for

My grandmother, who is the mother of my mom, passed away due to heart failure at the age of 87. Since I was 6 or 7 she had been living in our house. The reason for that was, my grandfather, that I was named after passed away a year before I was born, so she was alone, and she was starting to get old. Since she lived with us for so many years, she had been a very important figure in my life. I can honestly say that she was like a 3rd parent for me, and losing her, made me fell horrible and helpless. I witnessed how real death is because of her passing. Combined with puberty, my grief caused me to become depressed for a long time. As I’m looking back it sounds really extreme, but there were some days that I did not even leave the bed thinking that there was no point to our existence. Thanks to some psychological counselling however, I was able to overcome that mental

I was in school when I got a news flash about a shooting near a bus stop. At lunchtime, I opened up the story and it read, “Teen killed on way to lake park bus stop”. However, it wasn’t the headline that hit me but rather the first line of the article which mentioned that a Palm Beach Gardens high school teen, Claverle Joseph, was the one that was killed on his way to the bus stop. I didn’t know how to react. I just froze; I couldn’t process the emotions that were swirling through my mind. This was the first time in my life that I dealt with a death that was personal to me. My Grandparents had died when I was too young to recount any experiences with them. It was difficult to comprehend that I would never see a kid that I had gotten to know so well over the last three years ever again. My family and I did what we could for his family in there grieving state and donated to help raise money for his funeral. Although his death came as a surprise, I knew there was something wrong before the incident occurred because he did not come out for the travel team that last year. This was strange because he truly loved the team and playing basketball. Following my suspicion, a couple days after his death, I found out that there had been a series of incidents, including a shooting one week before his death in which he had been shot in the hand. His family stated for the news that they had been living in fear of their son’s life for a while. I wish I could have done more for him because whether he knew it or not he did so much for my growth as a person on and off the court. His life and this experience taught me to truly value one’s own life and to never take anything for granted because it could all be erased in an instant. His death helped me understand that I need to be as compassionate and empathetic for everyone I meet because you will never comprehend what adversities and difficulties they face in their

I was panicking I didn’t know what I did I thought I was in some kind of trouble, but when I got to the principal’s office, there were 2-3 police officers there waiting for me. They sat me down with a concerned look and told me some terrible news. These few words that I could never get out of my head. It’s as if there locked in a prison. They told me that my father was in an accident at first I thought that they were just talking about a car accident. I had no idea what to expect. Then they told me that my father had passed away I started balling my eyes out I didn’t know what to do. They soon drove me back to my house where I saw my brother and a few neighbors and friends. There were a few cop cars and an ambulance. I later found out that he had committed suicide. My aunt and uncle came and picked us up from my house and brought us to their house where they tried to cheer us up a bit it was my cousins birthday so we tried to have a

When he was able to talk he said to me “I’m sorry that you have to see me this way, I’m supposed to be the big strong brother.” That broke my heart and I just didn’t want to lose my brother, we’re just so close. Over the last week of summer I sat in his hospital room with him from 7 in the morning until 6 in the afternoon. I didn’t want to be anywhere but with him.

My dad was what you’d call a “big, tough guy”. He never cried, and very seldom did he show much emotion at all. He took a minute to compose himself and got straight to the point. He told us that my cousin Mackenzie, my best friend ever since I was a baby, had been killed. She was at a different campground in Spooner, Wisconsin, when the storm broke off the top of a tree. Mackenzie was playing on a playground, just a little girl on the swings on what started out as just a normal Friday, when she heard the crack of that tree and started running. It fell on top of her and killed her on impact. The doctors said the hit cracked her skull and she died

I don’t talk about what happened and no one’s cares enough to question me, they’re just happy he’s gone and I thought I would be too. That day haunts me, I blame myself for not watching him I knew something was going to go wrong eventually, it always did when Lennie was around. I can still hear the ringing in my ears if it’s quiet enough; I will never be able to escape that moment in my life. I don’t regret what I did because it had to be done to protect him but it was still the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I feel like a part of my day is missing, a part I never thought I would ever miss but I do. I miss having to repeat everything I said to Lennie because at least then I had someone to talk to. I miss having that companionship even if he never understood or remembered a word I said at least he was there. When Lennie was here I had a purpose and that purpose was to take care of Lennie, now he’s not here and it feels like I have no direction

I woke up on friday may 27th , getting ready to leave for school and when L got to school i saw my two best friend outside both looking really sad and i walk up to them and aaliyah was crying and i asked what's wrong, She was too sad to tell me so my other friend lexi told me “mom died” at first i thought they were joking because how could she have died and i just said how and she started crying which made me cry i just wanted to scream and later on that day i was still wondering how stephani ,how could a beautiful,29 year old single mom with three kids that was always full of laughter and joy just die a couple days from her birthday and just at all.i have known her all my life well since i was four my heart broke i literally felt my heart

My Dad asked me if I could help out at Cedar Springs Camp with other people I know. The weird thing was I said, “yes”. When we got there I saw that another teenager I knew was there to. She also heard about what happened yesterday. But, basically what we did was simple. All we had to do was load wood onto a truck. After about three to four hours of working, the girl invited us to watch her little brother play football. My brother Stephen went with to. And watching these little kids tackle each other was the funniest thing ever to Stephen and I. And watching the kids attempting to run was even funnier. After that we went to McDonald’s for supper. But yet again, I still had that depressed resting face. Next there was a balloon release in honor of Jadon Wulff. We all wore blue because it was his favorite color. Once I got out of the car, I saw my friend Levi, and I started to sob again. We were walking to the suspension bridge, and we met Sam. We each had a blue balloon in our hand. And a few minutes later everyone there released their balloons at the same time. After that, all the freshman sat in a circle and prayed. I also took big part in that myself. We were all sobbing which is completely okay in a situation like this. Levi’s Mom gave me a ride home. After that I went to bed, I was still a little sad but sort of content. Because I realized that Jadon Wulff is in heaven now and that God doesn’t want me to worry. A week later I grew acceptance that he was going to be with God for an eternity. And once I die, I will meet him

Our mom Julia had overdosed and the EMTs did everything they could but she was pronounced dead hours ago with J right beside her. Julia wasn't my biological mother but she had raised me alongside J my entire life. My dad had been with her for a while back when I was younger and she even used to say that he was like the Kurt Cobain to her Courtney Love, he hadn't died or anything but after getting too comfortable he ran off and dumped me onto Julia like some hand me down.

When I got my family was around our wooden table. My dad on his soft voice said “ I don’t think your grandpa will go through one more night, you need to call him” he cried. I felt like I couldn’t do it, felt so week and a huge hole in my stomach, something I’ve never felt before, I grabbed the phone and when I was about to call, the phone ringed, I passed the phone to my dad, It was my aunt sobbing and barely able to speak, then she said “ he passed away, I’m sorry honey” I couldn’t believe it I didn’t even had the chance to say

The most traumatic event in my life was when my father passed away in 2005, when I was only seven. At first, I hadn’t understood his death. I knew what death was, and that it was permanent, but I hadn’t accepted the fact that he was gone until long after his death. My mother was a mess, and I was a confused second grader who could do nothing to help her. We began to go to counselors and psychologists, who all made me feel very uncomfortable. All they wanted was to talk about what had happened to my dad, when it was the last thing I wanted to say anything about. I laid in bed crying for a few weeks, knowing it was because of his death, but I felt emptiness rather than sadness or anger. My mother began to take medication for depression, and still continues to do so. At only seven, I believed her sadness was my fault. To be honest, I still feel hurt when I see her taking the depression medication. I know that I had nothing to do with his death, but it granted me with an unwelcoming sense of guilt. I had just been with him the night before his death, and now he had been cremated into a bag of ashes. All of my teachers were very precautious about mentioning him, and I didn’t know how to process all the new attention I had received at school. I was definitely depressed, but I found a way out of my slump. I distracted myself from his death and did all of my school work from my absences as quickly as I could, and

Everyone had wonderful things to say, but they all seemed empty, superficial. No one wanted to mention that we would never get to see him grow into the chubby toddler he could have been, or see his first steps. He would never get a first love, or a last. I felt my heart tighten in my chest as I looked upon him. My sister grabbed my hand then, and squeezed it. I felt my eyes water and threaten to flow over with tears. I promised myself I would not cry, that I would eventually see him again. I guess that is the error of humanity though, to only comprehend the immediate pain, if we ever do at

Over that February, both my grandma and mother stayed with him through much of the process. I, on the other hand, was home alone trying to succeed in school. It was over this February where I gained an adult's level of maturity. I was intentionally left out of the conversation to protect my emotions. However, being shielded from it all only made it worse because I was left with nothing but assumptions and fears. I later found out that my grandfather nearly died during the whole ordeal, and I wouldn't have known otherwise. The only male role model in my life nearly left this world while I a mere 15 years old, and I was

My cousin, Richard, was such an inspiration to my two brothers and me. I looked up to him for everything. He was an amazing athlete who would never give up on or off the baseball field. I never knew how fast something could be taken away until January 12. I thought the world was just simply punishing me, but then I realized that I couldn’t control what happened even if I wanted to.