They Fiddled, Looking Ashamed, Like Students Being Chastised

"This hurt a lot, it was like my mom didn't care, never cared, how could she leave me with all those responsibilities I was only 15 years old" she said when I asked her how it made her feel (Nepomuceno). This was truly heart breaking to see, especially being so young and watching all of this happen to my best friend when there wasn't much I could do besides be the best friend I could.

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

My dad started to say calmly, "okay kids, if I tell you guys something there will be no crying"

I have nothing here, nothing!” She sobs into Anita’s shoulder. “There’s no reason to live here. In America there’s nothing but killing. There is death and there is worry around every single corner. I have nothing here. Send me back, send me back home to Puerto Rico. I no longer want to be an American

“Skylar, come on! The truck is about to leave!” my mom shouted as she walked outside to the U-haul truck containing precious memories of the past thirteen years of my life. “Alright, mom!” I aggressively shouted back to her, knowing full well she would not appreciate my tone. Despite my resistance towards the events of the day, I trudged out of my bare room with the last of my Vera Bradley luggage and loaded up the truck.

I was devastated, how could this have happened? Why my grandfather? Is he okay? All of these thoughts came pounding in and out of my head, and I could not stop them! There I was sobbing in the kitchen looking completely mortified and no one is doing anything! The worst part was that I had to go to school looking like a complete mess! Imagine this a third grader coming into school,with eyes looking like Lake Michigan. People are going to stare, and teachers are going to be worried. What do you think happened, just that

“Give me my book back, you grommet-head” I hear her shout. “Make me” I quickly respond, which I know will annoy her since she has no control over getting her book back. “Why don’t you run back to Mummy?” I say in an attempt to make her feel powerless.

In my first year of middle school, my parents told me something no child should ever have to hear— my mom has cancer.

My father looked at me quizzically, asking what was wrong with her. I just shook my head. I was afraid if I spoke the words I would burst out crying, which is exactly what I didn’t want to do. This was very unusual for my mom. Everyday we would get home from school and there she would be crocheting or already starting on dinner with a gigantic smile glued to her face. Today, that smile was gone. That great bubbly attitude was gone. All of us knew something was wrong, but I was the only one who actually knew.

“Okay, Margot honey, have fun in school today, make sure you eat all of your lunch and…” Margot’s mom reached for her phone that had begun to ring. “Oh sorry honey, Mommy’s got some important things to sort through at work today.” She leaned down and kissed her young daughter on the cheek before quickly exiting the day care center and rushing to her SUV, ready to start another long day at work.

I don’t always have the habit of eavesdropping on people’s conversations, least of all my parents. I didn’t find it necessary. However, on April 7, 2011, I found myself glued to the door of my parents’ bedroom. I had gone to inform my father that we (me, Michael, my younger brother, and Nanies, my young sister) were ready for the week long vacation to the sandy beaches of Key West, Florida. As I was about to knock on the door. I heard a heated argument inside.

A sense of urgency forced us to walk quickly, but I wasn’t sure where I was leading us to. A park appeared like an oasis, so I headed in that direction. Lily looked at me with passive puppy dog eyes as I plopped her onto the bench. As soon as I present the carrots, her eyes grew wide with wonder. “How did you find the carrots Ava?” "It’s a magic trick little one.” I ate the apple to the core, and was licking my sticky fingers clean, as a passerby stopped, took a long stare and didn’t hesitate to ask “How old are you little girls?” I quickly barked “I’m not a little girl, I’m twelve.” I picked up Lily so we could quickly leave the park, but put her down as soon as the passerby was out of

I darted to the car, wrestling Chloe, my niece, into her seat, swearing to sing with her for the entire trip to Chuck E Cheese. I mentally praised my older sister, Chloe’s mother, for her terrific idea. I didn’t see Kristin often. The last time was at my huge birthday party six months prior. I couldn’t remember why she’d left early, I was just happy to see her again. Now we had an entire day of fun to enjoy as a family. I wedged myself between Chloe’s massive car seat and the giant stroller, leaving little room to move. I could only see straight ahead, through the windshield as my sister started the purring engine. She hurriedly swerved backwards out of the driveway and rammed the car into drive before accelerating down the street, grinning

Once we arrived to her work we went to the back doors and scanned her ID and went in. My mother’s classroom was empty, but that was fine since I knew it would be packed in a few minutes. When we went into her room there was about five to ten minutes before the kids would come in so I just waited. I brought my tablet, iPod, and coloring supplies.

As soon as my mother heard the news she looked at me with a huge smile on her face and her eyes began to fill up with water and tears began to drip across her face. We all hugged and cried. I felt a feeling I never felt before when my long lost family and I hugged tightly as a group. I felt protected and loved with their hugs.