Mini Memoir
It was about 7 years ago when I was told something that would change my life forever. At the time, I was nine, with two younger siblings. My sister Hailee was only three and my brother was seven. It was hard for Hailee to comprehend what was going on being how young she was when we found out, so she did what any three year old would do when in uncomfortable situations. She stood at the end of the couch, just trying to have a little fun. It’s not easy being the oldest and I think your parents make it out to be one of the best things that could happen to you. Sure, you get the nicest baby books, coolest birthday parties, you get to sit in the front seat way before your other siblings and you get spoiled the most. But the hardest parts is seeing your siblings upset, it's hard to understand what they are feeling when they are just growing up and seeing the world in a different way then you did. But Hailee just stood there watching Jeston and I receive the news, but this isn’t the way I wish to tell you.
I'm going to talk about one of the hardest days of my life, and the events leading up to it, and after. January 8th 2011. Might not have any importance to you but to me its the day my whole world stopped spinning, my heart became two and my life changed in a way I didn’t know would ever happen. This was the day I had found out that my dad had passed away. It’s the kind of news you only hear happening in movies. It’s the kind of news you never think you have to hear, not for you, not from your friends, not from anyone. I never thought something like this could happen to me. I was in complete shock, my brother and I bursted into tears, soon we were comforted by not only my mom but by my Aunt Kim and Grandma Sharon. There was a little room by the stairs that we had a bed and computer in there so it was kind of like a spare room. I went into the room not long after my aunt and grandma got there and I cried, I cried for hours. It was like there was so much sadness built up that it all came out at once.
The night before I found out I had had my best friend Maddi and her little sister Bailey over to stay the night. We did everything any nine year old girls would do, watched movies, played little games, fought over things like what our names were going to be in games we liked to play. My dad was going out for a birthday with my uncle and his best friend, we called him Uncle Johnny because of how close we were with him. I hugged him and said that I loved him and he left. I didn’t know that was going to be the last time I spoke to him. I have this memory burned in my mind and I am reminded by it everyday. I was coming downstairs one night with my brother, we were crying because of the thought of having to lose one of our parents. The thought of having to live without one of them when they had been together throughout our whole lives terrified us. They assured us that wasn't going to happen anytime soon and we went back to bed. My parents had planned to get married but something was just off. Something wasn't right between them and I hated seeing them upset, I could tell they were trying to hide it from us. They didn't want us to know that they were slowing falling apart. My dad had moved in with my Grandma Ethel and Papa Rob, and my mom stayed in the house that we had been living in.
I still remember the first time I saw my dad cry, it broke my heart and I was shocked. I had never seen him cry before, it was something new, something that I wish I could forget. My family had such a big impact on my life while we were going through this. Not only them but my classmates as well, I was out of school for a few weeks along with my brother and sister. While we were gone the kids in my class and my brothers class made us cards and got us stuffed animals, I knew I wasn't alone and people were there for me which helped me through a lot of this. I think one of the hardest parts was the funeral, my siblings and I chose not to go to the wake just because we weren’t comfortable going. The actual funeral was the day after and I shared a seat with my Grandpa. It felt like it was going on for hours.
It was about 7 years ago when I was told something that would change my life forever. At the time, I was nine, with two younger siblings. My sister Hailee was only three and my brother was seven. It was hard for Hailee to comprehend what was going on being how young she was when we found out, so she did what any three year old would do when in uncomfortable situations. She stood at the end of the couch, just trying to have a little fun. It’s not easy being the oldest and I think your parents make it out to be one of the best things that could happen to you. Sure, you get the nicest baby books, coolest birthday parties, you get to sit in the front seat way before your other siblings and you get spoiled the most. But the hardest parts is seeing your siblings upset, it's hard to understand what they are feeling when they are just growing up and seeing the world in a different way then you did. But Hailee just stood there watching Jeston and I receive the news, but this isn’t the way I wish to tell you.
I'm going to talk about one of the hardest days of my life, and the events leading up to it, and after. January 8th 2011. Might not have any importance to you but to me its the day my whole world stopped spinning, my heart became two and my life changed in a way I didn’t know would ever happen. This was the day I had found out that my dad had passed away. It’s the kind of news you only hear happening in movies. It’s the kind of news you never think you have to hear, not for you, not from your friends, not from anyone. I never thought something like this could happen to me. I was in complete shock, my brother and I bursted into tears, soon we were comforted by not only my mom but by my Aunt Kim and Grandma Sharon. There was a little room by the stairs that we had a bed and computer in there so it was kind of like a spare room. I went into the room not long after my aunt and grandma got there and I cried, I cried for hours. It was like there was so much sadness built up that it all came out at once.
The night before I found out I had had my best friend Maddi and her little sister Bailey over to stay the night. We did everything any nine year old girls would do, watched movies, played little games, fought over things like what our names were going to be in games we liked to play. My dad was going out for a birthday with my uncle and his best friend, we called him Uncle Johnny because of how close we were with him. I hugged him and said that I loved him and he left. I didn’t know that was going to be the last time I spoke to him. I have this memory burned in my mind and I am reminded by it everyday. I was coming downstairs one night with my brother, we were crying because of the thought of having to lose one of our parents. The thought of having to live without one of them when they had been together throughout our whole lives terrified us. They assured us that wasn't going to happen anytime soon and we went back to bed. My parents had planned to get married but something was just off. Something wasn't right between them and I hated seeing them upset, I could tell they were trying to hide it from us. They didn't want us to know that they were slowing falling apart. My dad had moved in with my Grandma Ethel and Papa Rob, and my mom stayed in the house that we had been living in.
I still remember the first time I saw my dad cry, it broke my heart and I was shocked. I had never seen him cry before, it was something new, something that I wish I could forget. My family had such a big impact on my life while we were going through this. Not only them but my classmates as well, I was out of school for a few weeks along with my brother and sister. While we were gone the kids in my class and my brothers class made us cards and got us stuffed animals, I knew I wasn't alone and people were there for me which helped me through a lot of this. I think one of the hardest parts was the funeral, my siblings and I chose not to go to the wake just because we weren’t comfortable going. The actual funeral was the day after and I shared a seat with my Grandpa. It felt like it was going on for hours.