Personal Narrative: Life After Death By Elizabeth Umber

My mother, Amy Neuzil, has grit because she works hard everyday to get things done. She is the reason the word grit was invented. She stumbles out of bed every day at six a.m. Then she retrieves my sister, Madison, from her sleeping quarters and dresses her in the fanciest get-up you’ve ever seen. While she is completing that task, she also has to dress for work or college. While cramming a turkey sandwich, blueberries, and five or six bulky blocks of frosted plastic ice into a teeny tiny black insulated lunch bag. After she has finished that magic act, she is practically late for whatever she is trying to get to. So, she frantically gathers Madison into the Buick. Then she starts rushing back and forth through the front door, to grab

Disclaimer: I, in no rights, own One Piece or any other products in any way, shape, or form. So, don't sue me, yeah?

Life often throws many obstacles our way and the approach towards it allows us to grow as an individual. A combination of significant events has shaped me into the person I am today by changing my perspective on life and teaching me valuable lessons. Throughout my interview with my mom, we talked about how death has made a big impact on my life. These specific experiences include losing my grandfather, my friend passing away, and getting a new puppy. My mom and I were able to share similar responses of how I grew stronger due to these events.

Many times, we have memories that we would like to forget, such as an unpleasant or traumatic experience. My memory of my first internship was something that I always tried to forget, along with a lot of other negative experiences in my life. However, now that almost two years have passed, and after reflecting on it time and time again, I began to reclassify that memory as a learning experience rather than a negative experience. In life, we are faced with many obstacles, sometimes on a daily basis. Our society values stories of overcoming life’s obstacles because they are inspiring, interesting and may lead to personal growth.

Cozy coffee shops, warm summers, friendly hugs…1.2.3. Disastrous events occur all the time. We are always aware that someone, somewhere in the world, is hurtling forwards into tragedy. Tragic endings leave behind unanswered questions, unfulfilled dreams, unspoken thoughts. Those who love you are left behind, in the dust of your presence, spent to forever remember only your memory, not your existence. Crisp slices of toast, piping hot cups of tea, fresh strawberries…1.2.3. We all tend to forget an end exists. We spend our lives compiling as many happy memories as we can, fully enjoying the good days, deeply mourning the sad ones. When tragedy strikes, only then are we reminded that the end is there, and we scurry and try once again to make the most out of

Dealing with grief is never easy. One of the hardest time in anyone’s life is when an acquaintance or a loved one passes away. In the second week of the Fall 2016 semester, I received a devastating call. I walked into my chemistry class, and my mom called me from Turkey to tell me that my grandmother had passed away. I sat in silence in the car on the way home and thought about my grandmother. She had taught me innumerable important lessons throughout my life. Losing her changed everything, and I knew I had to return to my home country to say goodbye to my grandmother.

Please, oh please let the words come. I sit, and stare, and type, and I backspace. No one will like it. My work is crap. Crap, crap, crap. I crumple my paper watch it fall. The clock taunts with its ticking reminding me of all I want to forget. It creates a beat; a song. Poetic chords and dismal notes ring in my ears. But no, this is thought I should avoid. I am great- better than great. People will love this. Oh please, please, please let them love this. Will my legacy amount to nothing more than abysmal hope? This is the last time I think of it. Oh please don’t let me think of it. The blank page stares at me and I begin to write. One word, then another, then another, and another. You will never know what comes out onto the page until it is

Well this year was a hell of a year. I mean, i didn't pass any of the semesters but i did observe a ton of stuff that went on in the class. The class in general was pretty lit. Every day went by and i honestly did some work. The class was ready to learn as mrs g was ready to teach. I mean yea we had some days were we didn't want to learn anything and there were also days when mrs g didn't want to teach. But ima be honest, doing the work we did wasn't in my best interest. Most of the projects we did in class i worked on, but at the end i didn't end up liking how i did it so i wouldn't even bother turning anything in. like the obituary we had to write about ourselves. I liked the meaning behind this but honestly i didn't want to work on that because it just brought back memories of my friends that were killed.

A true friend is someone who is always by your side and appreciates who you really are. I am Liesel Memminger and I was fortunate enough to have Rudy Stiener as my best friend. He was kind and compassionate yet a Saukerl at the same time, a mixture only Rudy could accomplish, and I am here to share my personal experiences with him.

I picked to go along with her story as well as not tell her the truth about her parents dying because I did not have the heart to tell her that her parents died a long time ago. A lot of the other caregivers would do the samething. If I were to follow fidelity and tell her that her parents were dead, her sister died a long time ago and that she was living in a memory care in Dallas she would be even more upset. By going along with what she was saying and not correcting her, the situation would be resolved a lot quicker than if we were to tell her that her parents were dead and she lives in a care community. Not telling them the truth, when they will forget that they asked is a lot easier than telling them.

Often people perceive me as just an average high school student. I have good grades, participate in cheerleading and enjoy spending time with my friends. Most of the time I feel the same as everybody else, but there is a big difference between most of my peers and I. In 6th grade my mom passed away, impacting my life in more ways than I know. Losing my mom as a young girl was probably one of the worst things that could’ve happened to me, and completely turned my life upside down. It was a struggle to cope, and still is difficult to this day, but dealing with the loss of my mom has shaped me into who I am and has taught me many valuable lessons.

What is death? Why do people die? How can learn to accept the fact that one day we will die? Death is something unexplainable. Everyone has a beginning and an end. Some people cope with death differently, through sadness, anger, and confusion. The death of a loved one hurts so much, words can’t explain the feeling. Although that pain is not physical some can say that emotional pain hurts as much as physical pain. Once a person dies it’s a chance for people to reflect on what they did while they were alive. How many people they helped or how friendly they were to people. On June 18, 2016, I experienced death for the first time. I was not very close to this person but he was someone who really impacted my life and my families. I just never realized how much he meant to us until that second Saturday of June.

“Your world revolves around me” is a phrase I have heard most from one of the most influential people in my life throughout high school. These are the words of the sassy, past Highlander yearbook adviser, Elizabeth Perkins. She began the first day of school each year with a speech about how everything we do for the yearbook must be her way, or no way at all. Perkins made it known that good enough is never good enough. She expected perfection. She taught me about the meaning of dedication, accountability and hard work. Coming to the end of my Junior year, she unexpected retired. We were in the process of being positioned into a new staff and I was running for Editor-in-Chief. I remember sitting in a room filled with teachers asking me if I was

Standing in the way back with my head down and eyes closed, I am the only one not crying. The sobs from everyone around me flooded my ears. I raise my head to a painful sight I wish I hadn't seen. A casket, inside of it lays a body, cold and lifeless. A person that once felt emotions and laughed and cried. It was Zach's body. Even though I haven’t met Zach in person, I bet I knew him more than anyone else. Some people can walk by others and assume they know them by the clothes they wear, the way the look, their choice of makeup, but they are wrong. I never thought i could know Zach like I once did. I never could have imagined the hurt i would go through when Zach passed away. I rarely cry when people I have met died, but Zach was a oart of

In Emily Dickerson’s poem, the author reflects on the stages of death whether it is an spiritual state or actual death. Through, this interesting journey called death one can only image what life after death is like. Interestingly, an individual may endure a physical death but the soul of the deceased continues to live on. Needless to say, the author expounds on the effects of how one must feel entering the afterlife. Following the souls confusions’ state of not having yet left the physical form harkening to the environment of his own funeral is quite astonishing. Yet, this poem also can be a representation of the transformation of one’s sudden change in lifestyle. By this, one may inflict the rituals of religious requirements which require