Personal Narrative: Dad, It's Me

May 15, 2014 I hear my grandpa calling my name from my room upstairs. I walk down stairs and he tells me my dad’s had an accident. At this point I think my dad’s dead, because of how my grandpa word’s it, and my initial shock, but he’s alive. He was living in Virginia with my sister when it happened, so we leave for Virginia that night. We make it there the next afternoon and I finally get to see my dad. It was a challenge seeing a loved one with hundreds of tubes coming out of them, hearing that he might not make it through the night, and if he does he might not be able to see and so on. Seeing what at this point didn’t even really resemble my dad was very challenging.

The first challenge that Ben faced was the leaving of his father when he was 8. Ben was really close to him, many afternoons he will look at the clock and wait to see his father, “I’d rush outside to wait for him. I’d watch until I saw him walking down our alley, “Daddy!” “Daddy!” I’d yell”, Pg 10 -Carson. When his mother told him that his father wasn’t coming back, “Those words broke my heart”, -Carson. Ben was really sad and questioning. Even though he was broken, he figured out that it was better without his father, “No more silence, no more fear why my parents wouldn’t talk” Pg 12 -Carson. He later on learned how to handle deep hurt by forgetting, “And not knowing the recollection beyond his mitial leaving”, Pg 12 -Carson. Ben’s father's leaving was one of the first challenge he faced,

The author uses flashback on page 109 when he writes “Bubby, why did leave me? You ran away. Bubby, why did you run?” This establishes how even though Ben is laying on his death bed, he can still remember what happened and what he didn’t do for his sister. The guilt is trapped inside of him and it brings us back to the memory lane and we wonder what had happened to cause it. And we know there’s a whole

You never know when something might happen. An ordinary day can turn into a tragedy. November 8, 2016, was that kind of day. My dad was deer hunting so that afternoon it was just me and my mom.I was getting ready for gymnastics practice when my mom got a call. The caller ID read “Community Memorial”. I could hear the fear in my mom's voice as she picked up the phone. “H-hello?” she said. I waited nervously as my mom spoke to the hospital. Five minutes later she hung up the phone. “Your dad fell 13 feet out of his tree stand while he was hunting. He called 9-1-1 and is at Community Memorial right now” my mom said. At that point I didn’t know how serious the injuries were. “Is he ok?” I asked.

He looks outside and sees nothing. He goes back to the TV when he heard the door open. His parents weren't supposed to get back until 8:30 and it was only 8:00. He was in the dark and he saw a body. The body said nothing back. He gets closer and the body grabs a knife and stabs him in the back. He had just murdered him. There was gushing blood everywhere. He had a half-hour to clean the blood up and get out of there. He had plenty of time. Ben's parents get home and they see his son body lying on the floor with a knife in his back. They were so devastated, sad, and

I climbed our stairs around midnight, carefully and quietly. I knew Ben had already been asleep for a while and I didn 't want to wake him up. I had just fed Brode and needed to get him all swaddled up before laying him down to sleep. As I placed my sweet son on the bed, wide-eyed and with a crooked smile, I starred at him and began to weep.

I waited five more minutes before I dialed his cell phone again. Perhaps I was wrong in my thinking that the sirens were for him. Three rings, Four, no answer. This doesn’t surprise me because today he took the motorcycle to help a friend build a deck. Just as I start to walk back in the house, the phone rings. “This is the Hillsdale Medical Center emergency room, is this Sarah?” The concerned voice asked. “Brian’s been in an accident; we need you to get here as soon as you can”. “Is he alive,” I ask. “Come quickly, we’ll need to airlift him” is the only reply I receive.

family Dead. This shows that this was important to Ben because he loved his family

After a long pause, my mom spoke up and said, “oh honey. He is at the store. I should probably call him.” Is everyone going to be okay, I thought. I really wish this wasn’t happening right now. I rushed downstairs and sat on the couch impatiently. Then, I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Dad, I thought happily, but no, it was Matt. Atleast he is okay, I tried to think. My mom was on the phone with my dad and was hugging me at the same time.

“Cheer up, kiddo.” Ben’s father turned towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder in a consoling fashion. “You’ve done it a million times. It should be super easy this time!”

Ben shows respect for his mom by doing his chores and saying, “ yes ma” to her. People show no respect for Ben, so he wants to run in another place to where the respect for him. Right before he runs away, he sees a respectful note from his mom. That makes him want to stay with his mom. His dad comes home, and he does not know whether to give respect or to show respect to this man who he just met. He doesn't have a chance to talk with him, so he has to wait. Yankee soldiers come to protect Jacob and Ben does not really talk to the Yankee soldiers because his Ma told him not to. Ben has to spend the night over at Jay's while they sort out and get Jake feeling better. Ben shows respect for Kenneth since they are close friends. When he meets

 Ben put his head back down on the desk.  He wasn’t sure how much time passed before his mother told him she was done with her work and they could go home.  They walked through the empty gray hallways, and Ben shuddered as he saw the very wall he had been pinned against just hours ago.

Have you ever wondered who these people are that keep you safe everyday? My dad was one of them. He was in the Michigan State Police for twenty-seven years. He has helped save the lives of many people.He started working in the MSP even before he met my mom. He eventually married her and was working nights.He worked everynight to protect us. You. Everyone. Every night, when you were asleep, he was out working. Working to protect you. When he had a kid, my brother Logan, he was still working nights. He had to move from place to place, taking his family with him so he could do his job. When something bad happened, he was there to protect you. Even when you wanted to hide in your house and not come out, he was there to protect you. My dad is an amazing person. This is why my dad is my Michigan Hero.

“So—dad.” Arlene called him dad. Stacey always would be her dad. “I know you and Arlen are itching to see each other, but if you get a chance, I was wondering if you two would discuss something. Arlen and I talked, and we have both been wondering when you’re finally going to decide to move back east. The reason I’m bringing this up is that I my fiancee Jim has been twisting my arm to get married. He even went so far as to mention to mom how nice it would be if he and I got married in Las Vegas. I tried stalling him a while ago by saying I wasn't interested in any big fanfare. He hatched another angle, because he knew Las Vegas is just a hop, skip, and a jump from where you are in California. He was figuring mom would jump at the idea to help

Within the hour the phone rings and I hear Grandmother softly crying. As she calls other family, I slowly piece together an account of the day from her side of the conversation. Mom’s being transported by ambulance to a nearby emergency room for attempted suicide. Sadness grips my chest sucking air from my lungs. Somewhere within my trusting innocence, I expect Dad or Mom to walk through the door; I yearn for reassurance.