My Grandfather, The Matriarch Of The Family

I must have seen too many innings during my first game with my father, because i could not stop talking about how good the game was. During the first practice with my own baseball team, I could vividly recall what happened in the previous day. After my father had informed me that he would take me to the baseball game. This was going to be a better opportunity for my case because I was going to learn more about baseball. Although I wasn't sure he was going to take me to the real game unlike other days when he used to stop me from

On May 11th 2013, my grandma passed away due to pancreatic cancer. A little later that year on September 25th, my mom received a call from my aunt in Guam that my dad had passed away in his sleep. Then on May 14th 2014, my grandpa passed from complications of an allergic reaction to a medication. So within a year, I was left to deal with three immediate family deaths, one right after another. Losing such important figures in one’s life could leave someone depressed and unmotivated to move on with their own life and to rise above those challenges is difficult, yet possible. During this time of hardship, I grew discouraged and saddened, but over time I became motivated to set aside these struggles and make a change.

It was a cold, windy afternoon a couple days before we were leaving to fly down to Florida. I was so thrilled to get away from the bitter Midwest. I was thinking in my room and thought about heading to Toronto Blue Jays game over the summer to see my favorite player, Jose Bautista. Jose Bautista has been one of my favorite players for a couple years, and I just really wanted to see him in person. I asked my mom about heading to one and she actually looked up a game to go to, but for Spring Training. It turns out that we found there Spring Training ballpark was just a little over two hours from where we were staying the Florida. My mom and I talked more and more about going to a game, and then it turned out that my mom purchased us each a ticket

“Justice are you almost ready?”, It was my very first baseball game ever, and I was going to see the Giants play against the A’s! I brought my mitt with me to the game just in case I would get a ball. This was going be a fun family event! My mom planned this and got everyone tickets. My older sisters Brittany and Dominique and their boyfriends Mitchell and Devan came over for my birthday dinner before leaving for San Francisco. I always choose juicy, delicious skirt steak with my mom’s famous creamy mashed potatoes for my special dinner followed by her homemade carrot cake smothered with the sweetest cream cheese frosting. We took off as soon as all of us finished our food. When we finally arrived, I leaped out of the car as soon as

Early October 2016 to January 2017, was the hardest time ever in my life. In October we found out that my Grandpa had a very aggressive form of stage four brain cancer. We knew that there was something wrong but we never thought it would be that bad. For the next month, the doctors ran tests, decided on a game plan, and gave results. My grandpa was in severe pain and confusions. We got the results that he would need to go through surgery on his brain to remove the tumor. This was around November 15. That was probably the scariest day of my life. His surgery and I will never forget, was at 12:10 pm. I remember sitting at the kitchen counter and I just prayed for half an hour. After that, I remember going on my computer and searching on Google

It was interesting how tough it got. After this terrible, great, bad, fun day we sat down and got calm after the game, ready for a sermon. I got excited when I heard that Monica Pankratz was going to preach. She walked on stage and said “boys can you please exit to the right so you will have a sermon outside with my husband.” So right at that moment the boys left the room.

It was a rough beginning, both teams went scoreless the first three innings. We cheer each other on. In the top of the fourth inning, Tyler, one of our best hitters, gets hit in the eye by the baseball. Tyler gets hauled off in an ambulance

In 2015 my grandmother died. When I received the news I was on the couch and my mother told me “Miguel we have to talk” I was sweating because my mother was so serious and she told me that my grandmother was dead, and in that moment all I could think about was being back in the Dominican Republic, growing up with her, imagining the moments I spent in her house and the mornings that I sat in her living room, watching TV and smelling her amazing food wafting through the pass-through window from the kitchen. Then I snap back on reality and realize the future my grandmother would want for me.

My mom said we were going to the game, but the way she looked at me just did not feel right. I did not think we were going watch his boss's daughter play softball. We got into the van and left the parking lot to our hotel. We were not even driving for ten minutes before we stopped again, and it was not at a softball field. They lied. It was another parking lot, but we had to pay to park in this one. After we paid for parking, we turned a curve, and a big, blue, black, and white sign caught all of our attention. The kids screamed , Timothy and I screamed, we all screamed. We pulled into Sea World. None of us had ever been to Sea World, and we could not wait. The parking lot was so packed you could barely find a spot, but we got lucky and found one open spot. We raced each other out of the van, and even got into trouble because, "That is not how you behaved in public!" Those were mom's favorite words to say to us, but we were truly excited

On Christmas Day, I received two tickets to the Calgary Flames versus the Vegas Golden Knights on January 30, 2018. Personally, I thought it was an amazing honor that I got to see the first meeting between the two teams ever. My mom told me that she was deciphering whether or not to choose that game or the last game of the season. After my mom told me that she picked the game that she has picked, I yapped at my mom to give me her phone to phone my grandpa. I told him that I was really grateful for him buying the tickets. He told me that he was praised to pay for my fourth NHL game. After I got off the phone with my grandpa, I informed my mom that we should leave promptly if we wanted a slim possibility of snatching a puck from a Golden Knight...

September 27th 2009. I was on my dad’s weekend and my mom was in the hospital for a weeks. I would visit her every day and sometimes bring her flowers. But on september 27th I woke up and walked into my living room and my dad was sitting on the couch looking sad. I asked what was wrong and then a knock was heard on the door it was my step dad and half brother. My step dad had puffy eyes he was crying. He told me to sit down and my brother came out and sat next to me. My dad looked at us and he spoke up your mother had just passed this morning. I was shocked I was hurt I was scared.I didn’t know if i should cry or run away. I’ve learned that losing someone you love is tough.

March 8th of 2013 is a date that will forever be engraved in my history. That sunny Friday would soon turn into a treacherous storm that would change my life forever. It began when my mother woke up. She was ready to take me to school as usual, but today she was feeling different. As we got inside the car, she had a hard time walking due to a painful sting she had in her lower abdomen. The car ride turned into a horror show as she began screaming from the pain she was experiencing, as if she were ready go into labor. Me, not knowing what to do, asked her if I should call 911. She refused. I was feeling anguished since was driving with the pain, which could have resulted in a car crash. As I got to school, I saw her ride off with a painful look

When I turned 11-years-old my whole childhood began to change my life went from being perfect to everything but perfect. One day I came home to hear the news my father, my best friend; my hero was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. Not knowing the struggle my family was about to take on I just began to cry. I had a million things running through my head what’s going to happen? Will everything be okay? Why him? What is going to happen? With all these things rushing through my head all I could do was cry not knowing this was least worse to come.

For the first 7 years of my life, I was a happy child who enjoyed the companionship of friends and had no worries. Then, on one Thanksgiving day, while I was sleeping, that all changed when I woke up to my mom screaming and crying. I wasn't sure what was happening, so I went to see what was going on. I went into the kitchen and saw my mom sobbing while kneeling over my grandfather. My grandfather had a massive heart attack which he passed away moments later. After that day life has never been the same for me and my family.

My Great-Great Grandmother, Etta Kate Deloach Haskins, lived through some of America's greatest historical events from 1913- 2000. She was born before the beginning of the First World War, and grew up seeing women grow openly, publicly, and unashamedly independent. She witnessed the Great Depression of the 1930s and World War II first hand as a young adult, while marrying and raising a family. My Great- Great Grandmother saw the assassination of a president while her only grandchild was a teenager. Mrs. Haskins experienced life during the Korean War and Vietnam War while her grandson was getting married, making her a Great- Grandmother. Mrs. Etta Kate Deloach Haskins was alive through a few of the moments that the shaped the U.S. into the country that we live in today. (Gale)