My Grandmother, My Guardian Angel

Although my mother was frail she never showed weakness, it seemed as if her strength was as profound as her illness was incorrigible. She would take me up in her arms after my classmates taunted me due to my weight, despite the incredible pressure that was placed on her weary body that recently came back from dialysis. Even pale and sickly, her eyes gave off such warmth, that one felt at home in a cold small hospital room. Everything was bearable because of her, because of her strength. Unfortunately, all the years of pretending everything would be fine had caught up to her.

My great-grandmother was the matriarch of my family. When I was in seventh grade, around thirteen years old, she passed away due to breast cancer. This misfortune created an extremely difficult time for me because, not only was I adjusting to the environment of junior high, but many other issues were occurring in my life; this was the third death that I was having to deal with. Unfortunately, one of the previous deaths (that I was still trying to hurdle through and come to terms with), had occurred almost exactly a year before the passing of my great-grandmother. The second death that I had gone through occurred only one or two months before my great-grandma has passed. All of this turmoil created numerous internal conflicts for me, but also taught me a key lesson to keep note of, for the rest of my life.

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 aunt whom just so happened to be one of my role models passed away. I was devastated. Not only was I confused, but I was lost as well. A woman I looked up to was gone forever. I missed a few days of school and starting falling behind on work. It took me awhile to process my aunt's’ death. I finally realized that I have to move on. I knew that she would not approve of me being sad. I started remembering all of the positive memories my aunt left behind. I gained a tremendous amount of knowledge from her. Until this day, I carry what she taught me everywhere I go. I strive harder to make her

After a few months had passed, I remember seeing pictures of hanging up at family members houses and just coming across things in my room that she had given to me that always made me tear up and want to just scream and cry. My feelings are pretty much the same today and when I come across things that remind me of her I still tear up, I just remember she is in a better place now. Losing someone who means so much to you can never be easy. Just writing this story made me tear up and just made me remember her more and more. I don’t know what my life would be like today if I did not have her, like I said she was always there for me and when I was a baby, we lived with her because my mom and dad and brother had just moved from Colorado not too long before and were looking at houses so my grandma let us live with her for a while. My hero is my grandma and will always be her no matter

Since I lost my grandma, I try my best to call my grandpa every week so he knows I didn’t forget about him and how much I love him. I just wish I could tell my grandma “I love you” one more time and hear her say it back. I miss her so much. This weekend I’m going home for the first time since her passing and I don’t know how I will be standing over some engraved stone telling my grandma I love her and knowing she won’t ever respond. I know though that I have another guardian angel in heaven watching

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 grandmother’s parents immigrated to Johnstown, Pennsylvania from a small town in Poland close to Warsaw. As a young child she spoke two languages Polish at home and English when she went to school or with friends. Life started out very difficult and never really got any easier.. Her life continued to get worse when she lost her husband in a mining accident and her eldest son to a car accident. My grandma used to tell me the stories of their deaths, and how it taught her how strong she really is. She turned the hardships in her life into something beautiful, something joyous, and something sentimental. These moments shaped her into who she is, but they do not define her. These moments that she shares allow me to move on and find something joyful about every situation even if they are not be ideal. When my grandfather passed away my grandmother gave me the strength to look on the brighter side of the situation instead of the sad side.

My grandma had survived a hard life, and yet managed to raise four responsible, well-educated, and successful children. All this she did while working as a respected psychiatric nurse and a state mental health board member. Although she had had and was still overcoming trials in life, I always knew she would be there and cared about me and my life. As my brother and I grew older and were unable to visit my grandparents as often as we

I lived with my grandmother for the first half of my life. She practically raised me. Everyone in our village would talk about how much she spoiled me. She would go out of her way to get what I needed. One day I was playing with my friends, there was food in the house but I just wanted to eat snacks. I complained and whined about it until I got what I wanted she made my uncle go all the way into the city to buy me some snacks even though I could’ve just eaten what was in the house. She was a part of me. We had so much in common. My mom wasn't unable to raise me because she was living in America.

Back in the days, my wonderful Grandmother died in 1980 and left a few things around. My Mother went to her house to find out what she left in her house. I wasn’t born then but my mom told me what happened we really miss our grandmother and how she made us laugh and cry at some times. When my grandmother was alive she used to tell us how slavery was back in the days. We used to actually cry when she told us that we couldn’t believe how they use to get treated back in the days .My grandmother was a helping kind lady that helped us when she could that was the only person that looked out for us. She was the best in the world I know everybody else in the world wish they still have they grandmother. Whenever we didn’t have anything to eat my grandmother would make us something

In October of 2016, my grandma passed away from a hard battle with cancer. My grandma was my rock, the person who always pushed me to be better, the person who was always encouraging me to keep going, and the person who inspired me the most. During the battle, I experienced a lot of adversity. Whether it was school or cross country meets, that feeling never seemed to go away.

She told me all the struggles she had to overcome so we all could have a better life. My grandmother was a wise and strong woman. She raised thirteen children of her own and some of her grandchildren. I loved to see me granny smile and hate for something to be wrong. On September 18, 2017 was her last day alive and it seem to be the worst day of my life? I cried and cried, but I had to pull myself together. I had to be a man because one day ever one has to go, and if it’s your time it’s just your time. God has a reason for ever thing he do and haven just got an awesome angel. A couple days after she died I was stuck in a slump. All I could do was get high to ease the pain. At time I was just a lost soul and had a thought I had to do something better with my life that’s what granny would have wanted. I was chilling at the house and I had to decide to go apply for some jobs. So the next day a phone call woke me out of my sleep and it was Job Corp and that’s when I made it up in my mind that I need to come here to brighter my future. So God truly workers in mystery ways but they are blessing. My granny is my motivation while I’m here at job corp. She would want me to get

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 grandmother, Esther Turner, has impacted my life in more ways than just simply being there for me, as a grandmother. She’s much more than that, in my eyes. Being the eldest of three, I’ve always taken on more responsibility as the older sister. It was my job to show my little brother and sister which paths were safe to take in this wild, confusing maze called life. At times, I felt like a mother myself, and at a young age, I found myself slightly intimidated by all the responsibilities that were laid on my shoulders. The main person I could talk to freely and openly, without judgment, was my grandmother. We have always been able to speak to each other about any and everything, nothing was off limits. That’s what I think brought us so close, the fact that she accepted me entirely for the person I presented to her.