Visiting Grandparents

I never knew this would be my last day here… in Chicago. I hate my dad’s job, this is why I'm moving. Moving cities every year is hard and I hate it. My parents don't seem to bother all that much, they do it mostly for the money. As all these thoughts ran through my head, time went by and I finally arrived at my new house. As I out, all I could feel was the cold wind hitting my face and leafs attacking my fresh new j’s. Looking ahead of my was the fourth and certainly not the last house of mine.

And then, the day I had feared of most, finally arrived. We lost our father, the only figure I truly felt safe with. After months of mourning and painful transformations, our mother fell sick. In those terrible days, days during which I was locked in the basement most of the time, for my safety and even more: for the safety of my family, I was incapable of helping. To this, I regret even today.

I was sprawled out on my old bed with a quilt partially wrapped around me. It was cold in the bedroom. I had taken mom’s diary out of my suitcase. Tears rolled down my cheeks, as I laid there flipping through the pages.

”Bye students. Have a great summer,” the teacher yells over the bell. Happiness and joy fills the classrooms as everyone leaves the room talking about their summer plans with their friends and family.This is the way it should be,but what if all that was taken away just like that? and the joy of summer vacation suddenly disappeared? All you had planned to have with the people you were closest with. How would you feel if all of that was gone? That's why we shouldn't have year-round schooling, because it complicates schedules, add to costs, and with year round schooling

It’s hard to believe that we are actually sitting here in the auditorium for the last time as students of Kheradmand High. But we are! We made it through four years of high school. Now we are teetering on the edge of the rest of our lives, having to grow up and head out into the “real” world. That thought might scare some people, but we are ready. After all, if you decide that you don’t want to be a part of the real world, maybe, you can always come back to Kheradmand High and maybe they will let you be a teacher.

The following months a winter, cold and gloomy, surrounded the house. My grandmother came to stay with us since my father had fallen into depression and needed help taking care of my sister and I. When my grandmother went grocery shopping my sister would struggle with homework without my grandmother’s help. One day when my grandmother left to go grocery shopping my sister approached me, which was unusual of her since its very rare for her to come to me. Her dark brown hair and big eyes reminded me of my self when I was younger. “I’m hungry” she complained, a question she’s never asked me. My father sleeping and my grandmother away, I was the only one left to take care of her and that terrified me. I had never cared for or known how to care for someone else. All I knew was how to evaluate whether or not someone was caring for another correctly.

A few months into the school year I got some news from my parents that referred to my grandmother. She had an accident in her home that put her in critical condition. At this point my father rose to the occasion and began to watch after my grandmother, his mom. Taking care of my grandmother was not an easy task. She was constantly being moved in-between nursing homes and hospitals. She continuously had unstable vitamin levels and her body and was just in very poor physical condition. My father held on though, he was always by her side making sure she was okay. While my grandmother won’t ever fully recover, she is doing much better. It’s because of my father that she’s still alive today. I lost more of my innocence through all this but at the same time I learned that when things get bad, family takes care of one

There is never a dull moment when it comes to school and home. Although there are not any consistently favorable or atrocious moments, it is these times that make an acceptable week tolerable. While carrying on the topics of racism, relationships, and the first AP Language essay of the semester, this certainly has been an engrossing week. Even though most of the population have some type of freedom there is always that want to escape. Even if it’s just for a moment because being alone and escaping are two different conditions to be under.

We are all leaving the nest and flying in different directions. Some of us will move on to a school just across campus, while others will leave to a school thirty minutes away from here. I know we are all anxious and excited to be leaving the building that some of us have been practically living in since kindergarten. I have created so many memorable moments here that I will never forget. Today, I ask you to look around you. Who do see before you? I see parents that have worked hard to give us the opportunity to learn and are now so proud of our growth. I see teachers who have taught us so much more that just Algebra or English. Then, I see us, the formal leaders of the school. We are known as the eight graders, but I see us as a giant 40 person family. We are united by the common factor of our graduation. So today as we receive our much-coveted diplomas in our navy cap and gowns, I ask you to indulge in these last following days with your fellow

I walked into the room on New Year’s Day and felt a sudden twinge of fear. My eyes already hurt from the tears I had shed and those tears would not stop even then the last viewing before we had to leave. She lay quietly on the bed with her face as void of emotion as a sheet of paper without the writing. Slowly, I approached the cold lifeless form that was once my mother and gave her a goodbye kiss.

Summer 2015. The summer of all summer’s had finally arrived. My last one in Carroll County, and I was determined to make it exhilarating. Of course, recollecting all the time’s I had vowed to make each summer the best one yet, I didn’t have much faith in myself. I felt it, though. Something was going to be different. I knew that on August 12th, which was just two short months away, I was going to be walking the halls for the “last-first” time. Scary, right? I mean, for 12 years I had spent every day under micromanagement and all of a sudden, almost as if instantly, reality confronts you.

Today is a day of new beginnings; we are opening new doors and closing old ones. As a class, we have grown up together not only as classmates but as friends. For six years I have attended Cataldo, since the third grade, and for many of us even longer. Yes, that’s six years of red, white, and blue plaid skirts and collared shirts. Six years of finding my way through the winding halls painted in blue and gold. Six years of walking down the cement steps to meet my parents after having said goodbye to both my friends and teachers. After six years, I never imagined that the everyday goodbyes might ever become a permanent one. It has been both a long and short six years. Long because of all of the homework and endless papers to write; and short because

As my dad’s shiny, grey, car pulled up to the enormous building with a halt, I unbuckled my seatbelt with a jab. “Bye,” I groaned as he mocked, “Good luck!” Well that helped I thought. I walked up to the big, rusty, opened doors with the vice principal there to greet me. This was going to be a long year…

suddenly the room is filled with noise from all around, breaking through the barriers of tears that had stopped dripping. I lifted myself up what seemed to be an endless stairway to take my mind off the topic and something happened again, this time as a voice, as soft feather falling to the earth from the heavens. And bringing memories to which I cried to and as the salty waves rush down my face I jump back to reality as a dead silence fills the house.

As I looked at my father’s sandy hair, it suddenly looked very dull. Struggling to breathe, I clutched his clammy hand and thought of ways to help him. “Do you want some water?” I asked uneasily. He took shallow breaths and finally opened his eyes towards me. Thinking a moment and trying not to speak, he simply nodded. I hated seeing him so helpless. It was officially over, here I was now as the supposed child caring for the adult. I thought things were supposed to be the other way around. Getting up to get his drink, I felt as though I was standing in a hazy dream. Patiently, I handed him the glass as my heart dropped into my stomach. What would I do without him? It would not be long and I would have to face this uncertainty