My Grandma

My grandma was my superhero with her genial personality and her ability to give you her full, undivided attention in order to listen to whatever you had to say. It was always my dream to be able to share both my high school and college graduation with both my parents and grandma and being able to later pay them all back for all their sacrifices. Towards the beginning of my sixth-grade year my grandma became unexpectedly sick and as months passed her health slowly began to deteriorate until she fell into a vegetative comatose for the next four years. My grandma’s sudden illness came as an unexpected surprise which leads to my mom and her family having to take turns in order to care for my grandma throughout her extensive hospital visits and inhome medical care. Throughout those four years both my emotional and mental health took a hit as I tried my best to learn how to deal with her sudden illness and the fact that my mom was rarely home because she was either in the hospital or at my grandma’s house in order to help take care of

My grandma Linda was her only daughter. I spent weeks at Ma’s house in Holstein, Iowa. Christmas for the Grell’s was always hosted at Ma’s house. When I was young she would take me swimming at the communities pool, and ice cream afterwards. Ma’ was an expert cook, her favorite summer dish was fried chicken. She was nearly famous for that fried chicken. In September of 2012 Doctors discovered a tumor in Ma’s liver. Ma’s children paid for an assisted living home in Sioux City, Iowa. She pasted away March 21, 2013. Leading up to March the relationship between my mother and her parents decrepitated. My grandparents refused to come to my high school graduation.

A few months into the school year I got some news from my parents that referred to my grandmother. She had an accident in her home that put her in critical condition. At this point my father rose to the occasion and began to watch after my grandmother, his mom. Taking care of my grandmother was not an easy task. She was constantly being moved in-between nursing homes and hospitals. She continuously had unstable vitamin levels and her body and was just in very poor physical condition. My father held on though, he was always by her side making sure she was okay. While my grandmother won’t ever fully recover, she is doing much better. It’s because of my father that she’s still alive today. I lost more of my innocence through all this but at the same time I learned that when things get bad, family takes care of one

My grandpa died of Cardiac Arrest, where a sudden stop of blood flow fails due to the heart. At that time that I received the news from my family in Guatemala, I didn’t know how to react. Whether I should be sad and cry or stay quiet and give my condolences. All I knew is that it really hurt my family and they wanted to be with him. My grandma thought of something, booking a flight to Guatemala as soon as possible for his funeral. She decided to take me, my aunt and cousin. They were the only ones who really wanted to go in my family living in Los Angeles.

In November of 2014 my aunt tragically took her own life. That day I got a tearful phone call from my dad; I could feel his heart breaking as the words came out of his mouth. I held back tears as I drove to his office to be with him, knowing that in this moment I had to be strong for my dad. Together, heavy-hearted, we went and broke the news to my grandparents. During a time of year when most people prepare to gather together with loved ones to celebrate the holidays, my family and I were unexpectedly thrown into a period of mourning. My grandmother asked again and again why Joanie did what she did. I was at a loss for words. I had no answers. I still don’t.

My grandfather’s body was slumped over on one side of his wheelchair, and I screamed when seeing his face turning purple. A few moment later, my father ran into the house, and he immediately drove my grandfather to the hospital. The doctor told my family that my grandpa only had one week left to live. The next day, my father saw a text from my uncle saying that grandpa has passed away eight o’clock in the morning. My father felt regret since he did not have the chance to see him for the last time. I was overwhelmed and shocked by what my father told me. My legs were shaking, and my heart was pounding faster than the beating drum. It was at that moment my eyes started to become blurry because my tears slowly ran down my cheeks. My grandfather was the most inspiring man that I had ever made in my

7 years ago, my grandpa was alive and well, but 3 weeks went by and my mother explained to me that he had cancer. We went over to my grandpa's house to see him there he was sitting in the chair with a surgical mask this is when I realized he was sick. My mother was sobbing every night almost as if he had died I walked in there and I asked, 'are you okay?' She responded with yes, go to bed its getting late. Another few weeks went by and in this time, went to visit a few times my cousins, aunts, uncles, were all there. This was the last time I spoke to my grandfather, later that night my mom was crying extra hard and I was wondering what was wrong at the time I couldn’t think of what was wrong with my mom. This is when my dad told me that he had passed away I remember him saying that we need to love my mom and show that we care about her. My mom soon left to my grandmother's house, she went over there to comfort my grandma for her loss.

It was difficult to see her in this way. I saw how small she had gotten, swallowed by the stark, white sheets. Even as I struggled with the sight of what was visible about my Grandma, I could sense she was at peace. Cautiously, I approached her bed and she looked up at me with a smile on her face. Grandma squeezed my hand and thanked me. A week later, I attended her funeral. Throughout the funeral process, I did not cry. I was handling death in a way I understood and could handle. A week later, everything finally sunk in and I sobbed with grief. I tried my best to adjust to school again as I battled with my own

“Molly, we have something to tell you,” my parents said, walking into the living room with saddened looks on their faces. I paused the movie and awaited their news. “Your grandma has been diagnosed with cancer.” I definitely was not expecting that to be the news, so it hit me like a brick wall; I was troubled and overwhelmed by the news to such an extent that I was speechless. She has been an important figure in my life for as long as I can remember and has always been there to listen and give me advice whenever I need it. Her insight into the important things in life has helped me and will continue to as I pursue my dreams for years to come.

She had been battling breast cancer for two years until she developed a brain tumor that would ultimately be the cause of her life ending. Over the years, we never really saw my Grandmother, Carolyn, in a bad state. We knew about her illness, her operations, and her treatments but we never saw her struggling with it because she was a strong women. Only up until she learned about her brain tumor, she was very good at making sure the family wasn’t worried about her because she knew she was going to die and that it was inevitable. The tumor grew fast and only gave Carol a short amount of time to live. She was diagnosed with six months left to live and she passed after five. The funeral was very hard to deal with. I love Carol and she was a joy but everyone at the funeral took it a lot harder than me. My godmother went up and spoke about her and it was so painful to see so many people crying and wishing that she would come back, including her husband. I tried very hard to be strong for the others in my family but I learned that dealing with pain is all apart of grieving and accepting death.

Grandpa’s cancer had gotten so bad that the entire family had gathered around him. Alone, I was sent for help. I was only fourteen and I remember thinking to myself, “God please don’t take him before I get to say goodbye!” I was running so quickly and it was so dark that I tripped and barely caught my balance. Even though we hurried back, he was gone. It was the worst thing that could have happened to me. All I remember is dropping to the ground in a puddle of tears; I didn’t think God would just take him from us like that. I didn’t even get to say goodbye or that I loved him. It was so unfair. He was gone from our lives, but not our hearts. Even so, I felt as though I failed because we didn’t make it back in time.

Mom went over first, thanking God that my father had the forethought to create an emergency fund we could use to buy last minute tickets. Dad and I didn’t plan to go until Saturday, when the news of grandma passing pushing us to go and support mom. In truth, I felt almost indifferent to my grandma’s death; which might seem shallow, but I never knew got the opportunity to know her. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease before I was born, and when she first met me, she was in a stage with sudden mood swings. My mother tells me that she went from calmly talking to my Aunt to angrily grabbing my baby carrier from my mom and trying to walk out the front door while mom and Aunt Mary tried desperately to calm her down. I never knew my grandmother when she would be able to remember my name and not mistake

My grandma was one of the most caring and selfless persons I knew. She was a survivor of breast cancer, but was later diagnosed with cancer in her liver because it had moved from her breast to her liver. The doctors told her she didn’t have much longer to live, and she realized that. Her death was very hard, mainly because it was the first one I ever experienced in my family. She passed away on July 7,2016. While the story leading up to her funeral was very confusing for me, there was a lot of important life things to remember.

The most inspiring person I have in my life is my grandfather, Raing Chhorm. He is a father of 3 beautiful daughters. His wife, which is my grandmother, name is Heang Sok and my grandfather always put his family first before his wellbeing. This man Is the most prideful human being I know he never asks others for help. The reasons I’m so inspired by my grandfather is because he’s openminded, courageous, loving.

I grew up living through several life crises not knowing what to do about them, only that my grandma could make things better. My grandmother is the heart and soul of my huge family. At age six, my parents divorced and my mother got remarried, leaving my siblings and I behind to my half sister and grandmother’s care. The day I turned seven, my father passed away, leaving behind my eleven siblings and I. Although my dad had passed away, my grandma always said “it’ll be okay. You all still have us.” My mother signed paperwork making my half sister our legal guardian. Before she left, she told my siblings and I: “You are all like your dad. You won’t get anywhere,” but she was wrong. Because of my grandma’s pushy attitude, we’ve