Essay #1

Jesus Cervantes

Gaylene McPherson

College Composition

September 16, 2014

Losing a Loved One

 My whole life I have always had my whole family with me. I lived with both my grandparents and my parents in the same house along with my little sister. I was pretty lucky to have two sets of dads and moms living with me and teaching me things and caring for me at the same time. I loved my grandpa he taught me lots of things. The most memorable thing that he taught me was how to ride a bike I remember I was very scared, but he taught me to be brave. He told me to get on the bike and to just go. I remember I fell off the bike and got hurt but he told to get back on the bike and try it again and I fell again. He told me to get on again and this time I didn’t fall off and he said to just do my best whenever I keep failing and just keep doing my best. My grandpa loved cycling, it was his favorite hobby, he would always be fixing bikes and riding them as much as he could. After I learned to ride my bike he would pick me up from school with his bike and also take my bike so we can ride them home together. He taught me how to do chores around the house and how to be a hard worker.

When I was born my grandpa was done working but he would still get up early and do as much as he could around the house. I learned a lot from him whether it was directly or indirectly. He would tell me stories about life in México in the 20^th century and how different life was back then. He would make me laugh by making funny faces he would say funny sounds. Overall my grandpa was a great example for me growing up as a kid he would never get angry at anyone he was always loved by everyone who knew him. He was a very healthy and strong man and everyone thought he was going to live until he was at least 100 because he was so healthy.

My life so far to this point was very routine. I would wake up in the morning go to school then see my grandpa waiting for me after school with the bikes so we can go home and then I would repeat the same thing for the whole week, but something changed. My grandpa was feeling sick, it was a shock to everyone because he would rarely get sick because of his health and his great physical condition from cycling. It was in the morning that my mom took him to the hospital and I had school so my mom took him to the hospital I went to school not realizing the events that were going to take place in the next couple of weeks. I got out of school and I saw that my dad was here to pick me up instead of my grandpa and he told me that we were going to go see my grandpa at the hospital. At the hospital we arrive and I see my aunt’s uncles and cousins in the waiting room with concerned and scared faces because no one in the family knew what news the doctor was going to say. The doctor comes in and asks for my grandma and my mom and her 3 sisters. They go out to the hallway to get the news that my grandpa has pancreas cancer. I was in the waiting room and I didn’t get to see how they reacted, but after asking my mom how she reacted she just started crying uncontrollably. It turned out that my grandpa has had this cancer for a few years now.

From this experience I learned that no matter how healthy you live you can still get sick. My grandpa was to stay in the hospital for the next two weeks. In those two weeks I was told he was going to be fine by my mom, she didn’t want to tell me the truth because she knew I wasn’t ready to know the truth. Looking back im glad that my mom didn’t tell me because for those two weeks I would be scared and confused. After two weeks of staying at the hospital my grandpa died. I came out of school to find my dad with a very sad face expression. He told me “son your grandpa died,” I said “what? I thought he was going to be fine.” I was very confused I couldn’t believe that my grandpa had died. I asked my dad “what’s going to happen now?” and he didn’t answer. We get into the car and we arrive home to my mom and grandma crying uncontrollably. I have never seen my mom cry how she did before so I was really confused. That night I was lying in my bed and I was thinking of all the things that I did with my grandpa and couldn’t help but feel sad that he was gone and started crying. Within the next few days my grandpa was at the funeral service lying in the coffin. That was my first time seeing a dead body and it looked lifeless, skinny, and it made me very sad. Next was my grandpa’s mass at the local church and the whole church was filled with people who loved my grandpa. It was packed and I wasn’t surprised that so many people were affected by the loss of my grandpa everyone loved him. At the mass the father was talking about how good a life my grandpa lived and that this was not a time of sorrow but a time to rejoice that he was in a better place now.

The next morning was the funeral I remember getting up really early and dressing up in all black clothing and going to church to meet with the father and my entire family and everyone else who loved my grandpa and get ready to go to the cemetery where my grandpa will be buried. The ceremony at the cemetery was the final place where I can see the body of my grandpa before he was buried. I let out all my emotions that day I felt the energy of my family’s tears and it felt good to let out all our emotions. The death of my grandpa was a huge wakening for me. It taught me that life is short and we all must enjoy while we can because we all are going to die someday. I learned to appreciate the people in my life while they are here.