Personal Narrative: Dealing With The Death Of Amreil Watson

I was in school when I got a news flash about a shooting near a bus stop. At lunchtime, I opened up the story and it read, “Teen killed on way to lake park bus stop”. However, it wasn’t the headline that hit me but rather the first line of the article which mentioned that a Palm Beach Gardens high school teen, Claverle Joseph, was the one that was killed on his way to the bus stop. I didn’t know how to react. I just froze; I couldn’t process the emotions that were swirling through my mind. This was the first time in my life that I dealt with a death that was personal to me. My Grandparents had died when I was too young to recount any experiences with them. It was difficult to comprehend that I would never see a kid that I had gotten to know so well over the last three years ever again. My family and I did what we could for his family in there grieving state and donated to help raise money for his funeral. Although his death came as a surprise, I knew there was something wrong before the incident occurred because he did not come out for the travel team that last year. This was strange because he truly loved the team and playing basketball. Following my suspicion, a couple days after his death, I found out that there had been a series of incidents, including a shooting one week before his death in which he had been shot in the hand. His family stated for the news that they had been living in fear of their son’s life for a while. I wish I could have done more for him because whether he knew it or not he did so much for my growth as a person on and off the court. His life and this experience taught me to truly value one’s own life and to never take anything for granted because it could all be erased in an instant. His death helped me understand that I need to be as compassionate and empathetic for everyone I meet because you will never comprehend what adversities and difficulties they face in their

Nothing could prepare me for the news I received six years ago about the unexpected death of my close friend Joey. I will never forget the night he died. How I had been with him just minutes before, and how his death was totally unnecessary and preventable. A few weeks before Christmas in 2001, Joey, myself and a few of my other co-workers were closing down the local restaurant we worked at while attending Umass Lowell. It had been a busy night, and we didn't end up finishing work until 1am. Having worked all day, we were all extremely tired, and could not wait to go home. Most of us were staying in Lowell at the time, but Joey had chosen to commute to campus and therefore had to travel out to Reading. I

I’ve experienced many simple things like my my first kiss, my first F, and my first time driving. But the most significant experience in my life was the death of a close friend of mine, Miranda Arraya. Her passing happened so fast people are still in shock even a month after the news. It’s hard to type about because I miss her so much but this tramples over any other ordeal that has occured in my lifetime.

Life doesn’t last forever. No matter how much you yearn and pray that it does, it won’t. And that is something that you need to accept. You can’t cling desperately to something that is just out of your reach, for if you let yourself slip into the deep, dark pit of despair then you won’t be able to pull yourself out again. This realization made me stop and think. No longer was I crying for the loss of my best friend, but for the fact that she wasn’t in pain anymore and is in the best place possible. That day will never be lost in memory, nor the pain felt. Her tag still hangs around my neck, and will cease to ever come off again. This was the most irrevocably traumatizing day of my life, but I have learned so much from it. It has shown me the truth of life and death and how to overcome and push through

One of the obstacles I had to face in my life was when my best friend since kindergarten committed suicide. It was a chilly Sunday in December when I got a text message from an unknown number and I was going to erase the message until I saw the words “Dorian committed suicide”. Turns out that his twin sister, Vanessa, had gotten my number from his phone and texted me telling me the news. The moment I read those 3 words I could feel my heart break into a million pieces. And a ton of guilt flooded my body. He had tried multiple times but I always talked him out of it without anyone's help and without any adult knowing but this time I guess he didn't want help and so he went through with it. That day I stayed in bed all day crying my eyes out,

It all started the summer before my freshman year of highschool. I was estacic about going back to school, which was not very usual for me. However, I was finally a highshcooler! This was a huge step in my life. I could finally go to homecoming, find out who my real friends were, and eventually learn how to drive. I considered myself one of the more "popular" people, which I found a huge deal if your a freshman in highschool. I had a ton of friends and played almost every sport there was. I honestly could not have been happier. At this time in my life I felt as if I was on top of the world, highschool was going to be a breeze and before I knew it I would be going to be at Michigan State University. That was until I found myself on the floor of my bedroom, curled up in a ball while the ocean poured out of my eyes the day before I was suppposed to start school. I had never felt such a horrid pain in my life. I could not breath, nobody was home, and my only thoughts at the time were that my last minutes were going to be on the fuzzy white rug in the middle of the cold

Thinking about what someone would say about you on your obituary at the age of 15 was unusual. But after diving off the road and rolling around like a tumbleweed in a metal monster only to defy death, I laid on my hospital bed pondering the “what ifs”. What if I did die? Would they describe me with the typical characteristics of the young and departed: sweet, loving, caring, with a bright future? Of course turning a blind eye to my quick temper and sharp tongue; it’s rude to speak negatively of the dead. I came to the conclusion that I would be publicly mourned for a time period of about two weeks. My funeral would come and then I would be forgotten slowly as my classmates and extended family readjusted to their lives without me. My memory

When I was a sophomore, I woke up on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to lots of posts on Instagram of my friend in band. They would have “Rest in Peace, you will be missed dearly.” I thought it was a joke made by his friends to play with him, but soon enough I realized that it wasn’t a prank. My friend had died the previous night due to heart failure. We had parish honor band later that week, and the rehearsal was during his funeral. So I was not able to be in the honor band that year. I was really down after he had passed away. I was to the point to where I didn’t want to pay attention in class because I was still in shock that he was gone. It took a while to recuperate, but as time passed by I started to feel better. I still miss and think about

I was just called this morning my niece died; one of my VA co-workers found me in restroom crying and the CIO told me to go home. This is the niece that I kept from birth, I am going to work tomorrow and will be there until her funeral. I calling you to let my administrator know. I would like to know what to put down for time today and for the funeral.

About five years back, one of my best friends Jonny died, and to this day, I still grieve his death in my dreams and there are some days that I sit around and cry my eyes out. Some people don’t get it. Jonny was a very important part of my life and my brother’s lives. He never seemed to talk very much, but he brought this very positive mood to the group. He was like one of my brothers. His parents were abusive so he kind of had a rough run at it. He was never very book smart but he was very street smart. Nothing could frighten Jonny, he was fearless.

The most traumatic experience of my life was losing my Dad. He was an idol to me, he was one of the smartest, strongest, and most driven people I will never know. He single handedly ran a Fedex chain that made most of the family’s income, and could stand toe to toe with the smartest of them. He seemed almost invincible, being stronger than anyone, and seemed like a living superman. But then the day came, the day his mortality came to face, the day our family lost him.

In August of 2014, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, which was the worst thing to hear as a fourteen year old going into tenth grade. Being a student athlete and a hard working student in the classroom I knew what adversity felt like but nothing compared to this feeling though. Also, the fact that I am in accelerated classes, and one of a few in my grade that are in Project Lead The Way (PLTW) out of Rochester Institute of Technology (R.I.T.)

Before returning to classes last fall, numerous stressful situations unfolded. My grandfather had to undergo an emergency five-bypass heart surgery. This was an extremely difficult time as the family is still mourning the loss of my first cousin, Scott Bowes. In 2013, the Keating Family was joyously preparing for the graduation of three grandsons, including myself, from high school, however tragically one grandson died in a car accident one week before graduation as the result of a drunk driver. The driver was convicted and sentenced 3.5 years for impaired driving causing death, January 3rd, 2015. This was a difficult situation for all involved, being friends with the convicted driver, as we both had played on the same community hockey team.

I lost my favorite person in the world at a young age. His name was Reginald Jermaine Brooks. He died September 20, 2013. He was one of the most important people in my life. When he passed away my heart broke into pieces. Reggie is my uncle and my favorite uncle. Even though it have been years since he passed away, I still haven’t gotten over the fact that he’s gone. I know we are supposed to be strong through every single obstacle in life, but losing him was the hardest obstacle I have ever had to overcome. Losing my best friend!

It’s shocking to me how one moment everything can be fine, and suddenly, it isn’t. Two months after my nana passed, my childhood best friend, Francesca, passed away from leukemia at fifteen years old. That was hands down the hardest thing I have ever gone through. Francesca was diagnosed with stage three leukemia the year before and made it through all five rounds of chemotherapy with no problems. The doctors told her to that the medication would slow her down and make her sick, and that she should try not to stay in bed all day, if she felt alright to do so. She told me they were crazy.