Personal Narrative: Losing What Matters

I come across a rear projection TV on the side of the road one day, load it up, and take it home. I eagerly spend a good four hours stripping it down and saving as much as I can. I end up with a 48” fresnel lens, two hefty speakers, a couple large capacitors, three glass lenses, and a glass mirror. Left over is a box of electronic waste and the particle board skeleton of a TV. I take the electronics to my local electronics recycling center, and set the wooden frame on the curb. I took 70 lbs. of trash and turned it into 10 lbs. of treasure ripe for projects, 30 lbs. of recyclables that would have gone to a landfill, and 30 lbs. of refuse that I had fun

I can recall the sickening expression my dad made when my aunt informed my dad about how my mom was in a diabetic coma and how she could die or not awake. To this day, I remember the panic in my father's voice asking what happened and I knew from my dad’s worried expression, the wrinkles crinkling at the forehead, pursed lips, and eyebrows scruched, that whatever my aunt was telling my dad wasn’t good. After minutes passed by, my father was finally off the phone and for what seemed for forever my dad was just staring at me. Finally, breaking the silence my dad finally croaked out the sentence,

I have lost my grandpa and have not gotten over the idea of it. When I was in the sixth grade, my grandfather was very sick; he could barely walk. While my grandmother and some other family members went uptown for some household things, food, and medication, I was told to take care of him. Yet, I wanted to play with my friends outside. He told me to go ahead and play, but for some reason I just got mad and slammed the door and left. Around nighttime, I seen an ambulance pull up to my grandparents’ house.

When I was a child I watched as my grandfather passed away after battling with Alzheimer's

Over my years of school, one big influence on me has always been sports. Ever since a young age, I have always enjoyed playing and watching sports. In my four years in high school, I have fell in love with the sport of lacrosse.

Starting over. Those two simple words pretty much sum up where I am at in my life at the moment. I am a 34 year old mother of three. I have never been to college. My husband just recently left me. It has been a whirlwind summer to say the least, but before I get into what brought me back to school, I'll start at the beginning. I was born in FL., and quite literally spent all my time either at the beach or running bare foot on my grandparents farm. I loved every second. Shortly after I turned 8 my mom met my step-dad, and we were quickly headed on our first big adventure, moving to Texas! While I missed my family in FL., I can not tell you enough how happy I was that my mom married my dad. He has been a rock and solid foundation for me my whole

Who knew that things could change so abruptly, it almost felt that my whole world was flipped within a blink of an eye. Things were going to be different from now on, the people, the weather, even the fresh summer breeze from the coast will soon become a cold bitter winter breeze. This all came to my mind when my mom announced to my family that we’re moving, to New Jersey, once my school goes on summer break. At first, I began to panic, why do we have to move? Why can’t we just live here? We don’t even know anyone there, except for my aunt. We just moved here three years ago from New Jersey, and we didn’t like it, that’s why we only lived there for a month. Then why would we would we like it now? I question my mom, and I demanded explanations

The last memories we had with our families was when these men in black killed an outsider for trying to enter the island. We watched the men in black chase after the people in the streets forcing them to go into their houses and watch a man who I had seen before make a statement on television. The man was tense, stiff, and his stature looked forced.

am beset {long pause} How long will I let the pain and loss define my life? An enduring struggle of loss and gain A monumental achievement through the tangles of deeds But is left alone with silent words

Have you ever been so desperate for something that you modify your motive in its entirety? Throughout my life I’ve found myself placed in this frightening situation multiple times; the most confusing of which would be what I’ve endured this year. People in their 20s have it rough. We’re old enough to feel like we’re supposed to know what we’re doing, yet young enough to roll in the tide aimlessly and clueless and it still be acceptable. Then there’s those of us who believe we’ve got it all figured out only to be proven tremendously wrong. I have learned, however, that being tremendously wrong can lead you right where you need to be.

As a little girl I had my life completely planned out. I was going to graduate high school and enlist in the military. The ultimate goal was to become an Army Veterinarian. Being a veterinarian in the service would help me gain a lot of hands on experience in the veterinary field. Also, the military would pay for my schooling. My plan was very well thought out. But, not everything works out according to plan.

Sadly, once the Christmas tree had been put away and the New Year's Eve confetti had been swept up, I could find no excuse not to tackle my most pressing post-holiday need - losing some weight. Most adults put on at least a little weight over the holidays, and crowded fitness center parking lots every January attest to the fact that a good many want to then shed that weight, at least until New Year's resolutions are forgotten. I decided to see if I could combine my weight-loss goals with my interest in technology. I found a free app for my Android phone called Lose it!, and suddenly the dreary chore of losing weight became a bit more interesting. Lose it! is available for both Android phones and the iPhone. The app works well on my Droid

When in the course of shopping events it becomes necessary for me to dissolve the assumption which have connected me with another and to assume among the powers of my credit card, the separate and equal station to which the cashier and the god-held checkout entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of beautiful shoes requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the my desire.

There are many global problems facing our generation, but the problem I would like to solve the utmost is Alzheimer’s disease. My desire to solve the global problem of Alzheimer’s disease hits close to home. When I was 12 years old my Grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. I believe with modern medicine it is possible to find something that will slow down the progression of the disease or even find a cure.

My Grandpa Tony was a very nice man, we were very close to him we even called him Papa Tony. When we got to Los Angeles we drove around for bit just to see places we haven't seen in awhile. Then we went to my Grandmother's home a lot of family were there, so much that I didn't even recognize half of them. When I try to remember their faces all I remember are blurs. But I do remember what happened. Everyone there just talked to each other really that's about it. They talked about how great Papa Tony was or how their lives were doing or how it was a shame Papa Tony had passed. Me I just sat on a couch in a corner