Short Story : Jorden Courageous Allred

In 1997, my brother was four years old and my parents started to notice he was not physically capable of doing what other kids his age could do, so they decided to ask a doctor what could be wrong. Many blood tests and muscle biopsies later, my parents were told that my brother has mild autism and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy means that his muscles will progressively degenerate and weaken over time. This news made my parents upset for a long time. Halloween of 1997, my mom found out she was going to have me

This pregnancy began with many nausea and sadness. I went to my doctor every month for my routine check ups. When I had four moths pregnant the doctor sent me to do a sonogram and that day the doctor informed that my baby was a girl I could not believe it. That day I was the happiest mother in the word I because I was waiting for that little girl since my first pregnancy. I thought I would never be able to have a girls because in my family were more boys than girls. For me I felt that I was dreaming, so I did not tell my husband any thing about the baby’s gender. My husband was helping me with my other two children helped in the housework, gave me massages, and he spoiled me with special meals.

My niece Mikah Bradford was born October 13th, 1988. She was born prematurely. Mikah spent the first month of her life in a neonatal incubator. My second oldest sister Crystal sat by her side the whole time singing to her. I was born May 18th, 1990. Mikah and I grew up as if we were sisters. The year she turned thirteen she was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes. The doctors did not want to scare her too bad with the diagnosis, but looking back now they should have. Mikah kept eating what she wanted and gaining more weight. By the time Mikah turned twenty-one her doctors did not like the way her body was causing her pain. A few months after she turned twenty-one Mikah suffered a server diabetic attack.

Research suggests that every year there are between 100,000 to 150,000 children born in the United States with a genetic disorder or defect. This represents approximately 20% of infant deaths each year. However, many of these children live to age well beyond the expectation, and some are enrolled in hospice. According to Armstrong-Daily and Zarbock (2001), “The concept of hospice today is applied to patients who are traveling through the final stages of their lives-in effect seeking shelter and comfort.” Hence, the main focus of this program is to prepare families for the death of a loved one. Although accepting these

WHERAS, not only is this a loss of a devoted mother, but also a confident counselor and closest of friends. A wife, who was always available to share an encouraging word and demonstrate strong support.

The day Wesson passed away was one I will never forget. Wesson had been struggling a lot with his battle, and I knew things were not going good. That day I went to school, hoping everything would be okay. All day Wesson had been on my mind and when I got called to the office in the afternoon, I knew something had happened. My dad explained that my mom had went to Tennessee to help Kristi, because Wesson had passed away. His loss had not only saddened me, but lots

Our daughter, Amelia, died 16 days after she was born. She was premature, at 27 weeks, and her little body just wasn't developed well enough for her to remain living. Needless to say, this was a traumatic experience for me and my wife. My wife had a very rough time returning to regular life. Her friends and family had a difficult time understanding what she was going through (and so did she) so being given a diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was very helpful in that we had a label to apply to her experience and information to learn from and share. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is defined as “a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event, either experiencing it or witnessing it” (MAYO Clinic). When

My Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis; that’s what set my mind to being a Medical Lab Technician. As an optimistic freshman, I had a mindset that my 4 years of high school would go smoothly with flying colors; I was taking my first college class, AP World History. However, mid-year that mindset changed. I had been having major knee pain for 2 weeks with high fever, it was agony. My parents immediately took me to the hospital because my primary physician thought I had Kawasaki. As we were waiting in the emergency room, I could feel my parent’s consternation. I’m the first born with one younger sister. I can’t picture how distraught my parents would be if their first child passed away at such a young age with so much academic potential. Along with that, it had been less than a year that my grandmother passed away so my mom was truly

My aunt, who was the kindest person I have ever known, passed away when I was ten years old. Before she passed away, she was bedridden for long time. Because of the illness she had, she suffered severely for a couple of years. During that time, doctors told her that she had a breast cancer. She fought for two years till the time she gave up. While she dies, I was in a hospital at her bedside till she gasps her last breath. What a traumatic experience for a young boy to witness my aunties death. The firsthand experience I had, motivated me to train and be a health professional and help patients to recover.

I couldn't believe what my ears were hearing and I shouted, “But I wanted a baby

My whole life, up until I was eighteen years old, I had no idea what it was like to lose a close friend. On June 9th, 2015, I experienced the feeling of true sorrow and pure love. I still remember this day as if it were yesterday. My misunderstanding of this feeling had all changed the day I heard Skyler was killed. It was a Tuesday morning and I was at the Paulding County Fair. As my brother Bailey and his girlfriend Estee approached me, I knew something wasn’t in shape. They said, “Brooke, something really bad has happened.” And I replied, “What?” They responded, “Skyler was killed in an accident this morning. He struck a telephone pole and rolled his truck into a tree and was killed instantly.” The information they told me has changed my life in many ways. It has shaped me and made me respect not only my life more, but also the lives of my friends and family that I love and care for the most.

My daughters have suffered incredible losses in the last four years. Both my parents died in 2012 as well as a beloved brother-in-law. My mother-in-law died in 2014 and my husband died in 2015.

Some people have definitely had it worse than other but we all share some type of burden that is carried everywhere we go in life. The same little boy in the photo has been through worse aches than I could ever imagine at his age. Having one of your parents go into cardiac arrest on the eve of Christmas is greatly unfavorable, but it happens. It happened to him. When I found out about the incident the next morning I was heart broken. Not only because that was my uncle, but that was my baby cousins father. A father can never be replaced. He was only 7 years old. I am almost 19 years old and I still couldn’t wrap my mind around that happening to my mother or father. I never though I could see this little boy become sullen, yet he was. I never thought I could see this little boy cry so heavily, yet he was. Ever since the event happened he has been extremely compassionate and always shows affection toward his family members. Always saying “I love you’ and giving hugs and kisses whenever possible. Even though what happened was such a sad event, it taught both him and I something

My biological father passed away the night before I was born of bone and lung cancer, leaving his 6 kids in the hands of his widowed wife, who did not have the means to take care of herself, let alone all of us. She stated that she would rather keep her lifestyle involving drugs and alcohol than to raise us. At three days old, I was passed along with my siblings to my uncle, his wife and five

It was a normal afternoon, quiet and peaceful. Then, a noise disturbed the peace, a knock. The knocking at the door became loud and quick. I left my room and went downstairs to the front door. I looked through the peephole and gasped. I haven't seen that face in 15 years." Father!” He smiled and said,“Hey Kiddo, it’s been awhile.” Father hugged me, entered the house, and placed a big black bag on the coffee table by the front door. “I'm just so glad you're here! Where have you been for this time?" Questions started overflowing my mind. My mother divorced my father after he became bankrupt. He couldn't take care of me so he gave me to grandma Miller. The next day, he vanished. I was 10 back then. "Slow your roll. I will answer all your questions, but first, what's for dinner?" I decided to order pizza and eat in the living room, like old times. When I was about to ask father a question, the front door opened. It was my boyfriend, Jake. We met in my freshman year of college and we've dated for four years. "Honey, I'm home. What did you-". He froze when he saw my father. "Who's this?" Father rose and said," I should ask you the same thing. Who are you calling honey? My daughter?" Jake was speechless, and I thought,” oh father. As stern as ever.” Jake finally said, "are you at her father? I'm sorry. My name is Jake, and I'm dating your daughter. It would be an honor if you still allow me to date her." I was so surprised. He's never been so formal, but the more I look at him,