My Family Picked Me Up From The Ballpark

Losing a mother at the age of ten is not a thought one could imagine; however when faced with it, you have no other choice than to hold onto the memories that were left. The day my mother was killed, she had the opportunity, to call the entire family, to say goodbye. Sixteen years later, I can still remember those exact words of that phone call. While on the phone, I remember my mother saying that she loved me, and that I would probably not be seeing her for a while. At first this truly did not register in my mind, being that she always struggled to care for my sisters and myself; we often ended up staying with family members for an extended amount of time. I responded with “I love you too,” and, “Okay mom.” A few days later, a detective knocked at the door, and began to explain what had happened; she was found in a hotel room with everything stripped from her besides her boots. Everything in the room was wiped down, and all the sheets, pillows, and towels were removed. Her killer was never caught, and her death was ruled as an unidentifiable cause. Looking back now, that phone call made sense and I feel as if she was attempting to warn the family, yet no one caught on. Those little hints, of saying goodbye, could have possibly saved her life, still no one truly understood the meaning of the phone call. My father suffered from two strokes at one time; he was left paralyzed on his entire right side. My sister and I were advised that he would probably not pull through, and to

On April 28, 2015 we took our yearly Portland, Oregon trip to pick up my sister from college. The day we departed Maui was coincidentally Rosaline’s special day, her birthday. It was hard as I left the island knowing that it was her birthday. Three days later on May 1, 2015 we were reunited with my sister, Danae, and on a road trip between Portland and Washington. The travel of funniest has ended. Jokes, laughs, smiles, they all came to a rapid halt. My grandmother, Rosaline’s daughter, accompanied us and suddenly received a phone call. The Maui Police Department called and said that my great grandma Deponte had passed away a few hours prior. No emotion came from my family and no tears left my eyes once we heard the devastating news; we were just completely shocked! At the time, she had been staying at an old folks home called “Roselani Place” in Kahului. Luckily, one of my family members in Maui was available and rushed down to be with her. Ballards Family Mortuary had been at Roselani, and gently held my petite grandma until my aunty Lesli Otani arrived.

Five days had passed this time since anyone had heard from my mother. I remember praying to God to protect her from harm and for me to find her. The next day she showed up, but not in the way we had hoped. One morning as I was getting ready for school my sophomore year in high school, my phone rang to the voice of my stepfather. My stepfather had told me he heard a call come over the dispatch scanner at his work and my mother’s name was mentioned. The sheriff had informed my stepfather that my mother had been involved in an accident. My stepfather asked me to go to the emergency room and see what condition my mother was in because he lived a half hour away from the hospital. When I arrived at the hospital I found my mother cut out of her clothes, covered in her own urine, massive amounts of blood all over her body, and lying lifeless on life support on the table. At this point, no one knew whether my mother would be okay. My mother had bleeding on the brain as well as a tear in her shoulder, a shattered face, and a chest tube draining fluid from her lung which had collapsed. All I could do was pray! My mother’s life was in God’s hands now. Three days later she woke

The day she died was the day after my best friend, Daniel Knife committed suicide. I didn’t realize it at first, but I kept getting this weird feeling ever since they died. Everything was different. The next morning I felt the need to go see her grave again. When I arrived there, a weeping willow tree had grown on her grave with my wife's name carved in it. I heard voices around me whispering “Cole, Cole, Cole….” It sounded just like my wife, Sami. I turned to leave but then saw something out of the corner of my eye. As I looked back I saw Sami standing there in front of the tree. I closed my eyes, shook my head and checked again. She was still there. I closed my eyes again but even tighter, shook my head harder and when I opened my eyes. She was gone.

I had just finished my basketball practice. I was feeling ecstatic because I was making baskets left and right like Kobe Bryant. My coach even told me that he has never seen me play like that before. Then I strutted outside and found my father parked outside the school in his large, brown pick-up truck. I hopped inside and turned my seat heater to high because it was frigid, winter weather outside. My dad made some casual small talk, then he gave me the news. He stated in a low, dull voice, “Hey Jack, grandma past away today.”

My whole life, up until I was eighteen years old, I had no idea what it was like to lose a close friend. On June 9th, 2015, I experienced the feeling of true sorrow and pure love. I still remember this day as if it were yesterday. My misunderstanding of this feeling had all changed the day I heard Skyler was killed. It was a Tuesday morning and I was at the Paulding County Fair. As my brother Bailey and his girlfriend Estee approached me, I knew something wasn’t in shape. They said, “Brooke, something really bad has happened.” And I replied, “What?” They responded, “Skyler was killed in an accident this morning. He struck a telephone pole and rolled his truck into a tree and was killed instantly.” The information they told me has changed my life in many ways. It has shaped me and made me respect not only my life more, but also the lives of my friends and family that I love and care for the most.

As I rolled over in bed to look at my clock through blurry eyes, I immediately became wide-awake, my heart pounding like a drum in my chest. Who would call my house at one o’clock in the morning? The feeling of fear filled my whole body, from the tips of my toes to the top of my head as I stumbled my way through the dark, and out of my room. As I entered the hallway, I noticed the light was on in my parents’ room and I heard a sobbing voice that belonged to my mom. I could barely hear the words that were coming out of my mom's mouth. It was as if I was getting farther and farther away, her voice becoming more distant; my legs felt weak and my vision became blurry. There I stood, in my parents room shaking uncontrollably, my whole world coming to an end as I was told that one of the most important people in my life had passed

My mom picked me up at four thirty on September 30th, a Thursday. Four Thirty, way earlier than usual. Dressed in blue jeans and sweater, this was not her work attire. Perhaps she just had one of those awful migraines she gets at least once a month. Walking through the burnt orange leaves my mom and I pass the main building, and the middle school building. My mom has not said a word. She hits the “unlock” button twice to enter her Mercury Mountineer. As I sit down to buckle my seatbelt, she parts her lips to speak the unfathomable. “At around one o’clock today, Aunt Jackie died.” Aunt Jackie, my mom’s stepsister was possibly the most angelic person I had ever met. As my mom struggled holding back the tears to speak again a wave of

Four caskets lowered into the cold dark ground, inside each casket laid a young lifeless body, a football player, a dancer, a baseball player, and a track star. The crowd of the loved ones that laid in the caskets broke down in tears, others stood there in disbelieve watching as they buried each high school student. The parents of the children yelled and cried asking God why he took their child away. Friends stood there trying to hold back tears of heartache. Nobody could believe that their child, brother, sister, best friends were taken away from them so fast. As the days, weeks, months, and years past by nobody was the same since the night of the accident, a piece of them was gone and they were never getting it back. Everybody now doesn’t

The day of January 15, 2014, was a day that crushed many people including myself. As school got out, my parents picked me up, but something was odd with both of them. I asked what was going on, and my mom told me the news that sent a chill down my spine. I was told that my Uncle Adam had been shot and passed away that morning. I thought it was some cruel joke at first and did not believe a word of it, but my mom continued to tell me she was flying out to Washington to be there with streams of tears down her face. It finally hit me, and it took every bit of strength not to start breaking down. This was also the week before we had midterms and because of this, I was not able to go to Washington to attend my Uncles funeral. This was the first death of someone close to me I have ever had to deal with.

In spite of this painful occurrence happening to me at twenty-four years of age, emotions such as shock, anger, and guilt, came into play creating chaos. I rerun her death in my mind, yet unable to completely forget the sadness, similar to a synopsis. These feelings can be frightening and overwhelming; however I have learned how to cope and with the realization that life and death are phenomenal both intertwined. I speculate that

Every morning I still wake up thinking that she is there drinking her tea in her room , watching tv. Then suddenly the truth comes rushing up to me and I realize that it is just a dream hanging around me still, and a cold despair fall upon me. I feel empty inside. My mother’s death was a really sobering experience I’ve passed through. It was the most devastating loss in my life.

The morning was normal, my dad greeted me with a hug and kiss then a bowl of cereal, but I could not shake the feeling that something was lost or missing. Throughout the day I had just sat on my couch wrapped in blankets and the warm embrace of my dad’s arms while we just sat there watching Chowder laughing so hard that we snort, but his laugh was quieter. His phone then starts to ring and he gets up to leave the room so I do not here what he has to say, but I heard him say, “Yeah, Karen’s mom, Ruth, died this morning. By this point my heart dropped and I started shaking. One of the biggest influences in my life gone and I did not want to believe it so i squinted my eyes and shut off my ears to the world. “This isn’t real AJ. I promise you this isn’t real,” I kept telling myself knowing the truth however. The day, however, would only get worse.

Grieving had become a lifestyle, I sat around my home for quite some time by myself, crying, agonizing and suffering. I reluctantly waited for the phone to ring, wondering if I’d ever hear from my siblings or their children again. My family had gone through an extreme and unthinkable tragedy and needed to communicate, but this didn’t happen. We were all so wrapped up in our agonizing pain that we forgot to check on one another. Our previously happy family had been shattered, extremely damaged and seemingly irreversible with no evidence of healing any time soon. We were broken, even worse, for the first time, we were divided.

The morning was normal, my dad greeted me with a hug and kiss, then a bowl of cereal, but I could not shake the feeling that something was lost or missing. Throughout the day I had just sat on my couch wrapped in blankets and the warm embrace of my dad’s arms while we just sat there watching Chowder laughing so hard that we snort, but his laugh was quieter. His phone then starts to ring and he gets up to leave the room so I do not hear what he has to say, but I heard him say, “Yeah, Karen’s mom, Ruth, died this morning. By this point my heart dropped and I started shaking. One of the biggest influences in my life gone and I did not want to believe it so I squinted my eyes and shut off my ears to the world. “This isn’t real AJ. I promise you this isn’t real,” I kept telling myself knowing the truth however. The day, however, would only get worse.