I knew that something was not right when my dad was on his way over to my mom’s house to talk to my sister and I. I should have seen this news coming since things had not been right over the past month. Once my dad came over he took my sister and I downstairs to talk to us in private. He sat us down and said, “Guys I need to tell you something. This is not the easiest thing to do but…” Allow me to catch you up to speed on how we got here. It all started just a couple of weeks before the Turkey Day football game my sophomore year of high school. I began to notice that something was not right with my Grandfather. Every time he did any sort of walking or physical activity he would be out of breath to the point where it seemed like he would …show more content…
On our way to pick him up I remember him having been sick to his stomach and throwing up. After the game, he was still feeling sick and it was getting worse so he did not show up to Thanksgiving dinner. Two days later my dad ended up taking him to the doctor to find out what the problem was. I could tell that it was worse than what I originally thought because he had to keep going to the doctor for more and more tests. This leads to where I started back at my house when my dad told my sister and I that my grandfather was diagnosed with Leukemia. That was one of the hardest things for me to hear considering that my grandfather was a big part of my life. My dad said that he was going to be in hospice care without chemotherapy because he said: “That he had lived his life.” Two weeks after being put into hospice care my grandfather passed away with all of his family by his side. It has been almost 3 years since he has passed and there is not a day that goes by in which I do not think of him. This really hit me hard and it took a while for me accept the fact that I will never get to see him again. From going through the experience of a loss I have learned that life can take you in a blink of an eye and that you need to make the most of it because you never know what is going to happen
It was a nice day so I wanted to see if my friends could play, I rode my bike to Alex and Tony’s house. I got to the door and rang the bell.
Times like these are when I learned to accept the things that I cannot change. That death will always come. However, before this point a young me had never experienced loss. It was always tricky to comprehend for me at the time. Where did he go? When will he be back? Knowing keep down that the answer is never. Overcoming the looming sense of emptiness took sometime, as it does for everyone. But learning lessons about life and death is an important part of growing up. Losing such a close companion as a young child will always remain the turning point of realizing that good things and people do not last forever, and to always cherish the memories and moments had with those you love.
One night in January, I couldn't sleep and it was 4am and then out of the blue I got a call from my sister.. At first all I had was questions, “What do you mean his organs are shutting down?” And then she said it-- grandpa’s dying. She called telling me that our grandpa, who was battling cancer on and off for eight years,
He made it and it took some pain away, and i thought maybe i would feel way better knowing he's alive. As time went by i felt like i was going to drop out, but i had people here at phoenix who actually cared and got me some help. What haunts me now is losing my grandfather that year because the day before he passed, i was at the hospital visiting him, and he was so well and he was ready to get up and leave back home. The hospital told us he just needed to stay for one more day, and i had to go to school that morning, so i told him i would see him later that
My maternal aunt gathered us together and we all sat on the couch. She turned to my mother and told us she had cancer. I looked at my aunt and I did not know what to say or how to respond. Three months later, my father received a phone call from his sister telling him that my pregnant cousin, Elizabeth, was diagnosed with leukemia and had to give birth to her premature baby. She and I grew up in the same house in Arizona and what hurt me the most was not being able to be with her during this difficult time. When we went to visit her in Arizona, my dad told us before entering the hospital room that he did not want us to cry in front of her. I was scared to enter. I did not know what to say to her but I knew I had to be strong. We stayed there for the holiday season but we never celebrated the holidays, that was too
When dad finally went to the doctors, they told him it was a virus of some sort. My parents really didn’t go into detail about the visit. My father then went
I was awaken by my mothers frantic crying. Immediatly I broke down because I already knew what that meant. My grandpa was no longer living. We rushed to hospice were his cold lifeless body was still laying in the hospital bed. Walking into that room was probably one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. The moment we stepped into the door our family members were all circled around the hospital bed and all that was heard was weeping and crying. My mother was clearly affected the most by his death because she was the definition of a daddy’s girl. When she saw him laying there she instantly brroke down and rushed to his bedside and began talking to him as if he was alive. I remember her repeadtly saying “ I love you Wedaddy”. The look on my mothers face broke my heart. She had always been the light in a dark room. She was always the person that found a way to put a smile on everyones face. I had never seen her like this and it frightened me. Looking at my garndpa lay there lifeless and realizing I would never be able to get one of his famous hugs hurt
September 20, 2011 was the day that everything changed. Practice that day was long and excruciatingly hot. My coach did not let me take a rest as I was the only full back we had at the time. Hit after hit, it started to add up and my world was spinning but coach told me to keep going, so I did. The very next snap my world got wrecked. My form became lazy because I was beyond exhausted and dehydrated, my head lead my attempt to break the tackle and the kid making the tackle lead with his head as well. Just like that my body went numb, everything was dark, my eyes were open but I could not see. I had no sense of where I was and where I was going. My name left me. At this point I did not know if I was dead or alive. This was the last time I was ever able to strap up and play the game of football. This is what happens to the millions of kids who play football on a daily basis. Somebody was there telling them to go back in even when they were showing early signs of a concussion. The athlete takes one more hit straight to the head out of poor form or exhaustion and then everything goes from bad to worse. These events take place at such a young age that the long term side effects can be fatal.
When my dad came home that evening he sat me down and asked me if I knew what cancer was. I had an idea so I just nodded my head, he went on to tried to explain to me how bad the cancer was that my mom had been diagnosed with. Seeing my dad so afraid scared me. The fear I felt then led me to realize that I needed to try and hide it because it would only hurt my dad more to see his children so upset. I did my best to help, I tucked my little sisters into bed while my mom was away at the hospital, read them stories and did the best I could at preparing snacks to comfort them. After my mom arrived home and she recovered from the surgery she started chemotherapy. The miserable treatment that attacks the cancer also makes her very ill. Every other week she was sick. Before every bad week I wanted to cry, but that wouldn’t help anyone. Lane and Kenna already were crying, if I cried it could only hurt my parents
Football is a game of passion, a time when nothing else matters and the only thing that matters is going out there having fun and fighting for the guy next to you. Football has always been something that I loved and had a wild passion for. I’ve made friendships and memories to last a life time and I can always be grateful that football did that for me. Now of course I’ve had some bad memories during football as well, I remember walking out of the film room on the last day of spring ball and having Coach Antle grab me and say “Gage, I think I want to try you at a new position, I want to put you at defensive end. We need you more there and we think you can really excel there.” I remember being so furious, I had played linebacker ever since I could remember and now the last day of spring ball my senior year everything was about to change.
The experience of a person losing a loved one is very difficult to accept and then cope with. “He gets all teary telling about the good times they had together, how her brother made the war seem almost fun.” pg. 67-68 (Tim O’Brien). Losing someone close to you is hard to accept because once their gone things don’t feel the same anymore and you just can’t stop thinking about them and the memories you guys shared together. It’s also very hard to cope with because you’re so used to having that person around and when their no longer there you feel so empty and that feeling is so horrible. Having to deal with the fact that someone who was so special to you is no longer there isn’t easy to accept.
Over the summer I attended a camp at Zehmal park. It was a Flag football camp. That’s when it all happened!
My stomach tightened. I had never played free safety before. The ball was snapped, and I watched as the tailback widened out to receive the pitch. Never had I felt such an adrenaline rush.
About a year after being diagnosed, his doctor told him that he was cancer free. He was so happy; his face was all smiles. I had never seen him so happy in his entire life. It was such a beautiful sight seeing my old mans face that lit up, he told everyone that he was cancer free. I was so proud of my father for being that strong, cancer couldn't even bring him down.
Though some may say, myself included, that the death of a family member is one of the hardest, toughest, traumatic things to deal with, it also comes with a good side. That good side is that it brings people together to not only mourn over a loss, but to celebrate the life of someone great. One can either sink from a situation like this, or one can rise. I feel like my family and I chose to rise from this. We were all changed in so many ways. My grandma, Veronica, was especially changed the most. She and my granddad did absolutely everything together. They