Death was something new to me. I had never had to deal with someone close to me passing. I had experienced my friends losing a grandparent or a distant relative, but it had not affected me terribly much. I always considered myself to be lucky I had not suffered through the pain of losing someone brought. When this finally occurred, the first challenge was presented to me: accepting the fact I didn’t have a father anymore.…
As I was growing up I would always try to break free, from all the violence going on around my neighborhood. After graduating elementary school, I saw the world entirely differently. Entering my sophomore year in high school I began to get caught up with the kids outside of my school. My grandmother came from Dominican Republic in 2010. She was my back bone for my motivation. The relationship I had with her was unbreakable. In 2012 all that was taken away from me when she passed away. I was so devastated that I thought my world ended I was in disbelief. The world took a pause until I took it all in. I was in such pain that all I wanted to do was hurt everyone else around me. I felt empty. A black cloud was over me that day and for the rest of the year. I decided to stop attending school. I found no reason to keep going on in life anymore. This was the worst low imaginable; now I needed time to figure myself out without my grandma.…
I never thought me, of all people, would experience such a sorrowful day. I have tried to forget it time and time again; but the reality is I will always remember every miniscule detail, moment, word, and facial expression on that particular day. My heart managed to shatter into a million pieces, leaving me without a reason to pursue my existence. My salty tears freely rolled down my warm cheeks, causing my eyes to burn sensationally. I remember mourning on the comforting shoulders of my family members, as they too were consumed by their feelings. The most valuable lesson that beared a reservation in my spirit was to cherish every moment and loved one, for tomorrow is not guaranteed to anyone. I wish I could have fathom this reality before the climactic tragedy struck me like a ton of bricks. Although death is normal, it seemed almost foreign when it abducted the life of my favorite uncle.…
It was Monday, May 30th, 2011. My family was driving home from a hotel we were staying at in Virginia, after going to Kings Dominion for my birthday day the day before. On the way home, we stopped at a Cracker Barrel for breakfast. During our meal, we got a call from my aunt telling us that my uncle, my mother’s brother, was in the hospital. Only a few days before he had moved back to Guatemala without saying goodbye to me. Once we were back on the road, my mother continued to get phone calls updating us about what was happening down there, as each call came through we all became more and more anxious wait for the answer. Then it came it just wasn't the answer we were hoping for, my mother began pushing on the walls of the car as if they were…
The Bible chronicles mans fall from what God created him to be, and God’s desire to restore a sinful man unto Himself through missions. Even though man was originally made perfectly in the image of God, man would eventually succumb to his free will and his own selfish desires. Once man allowed evil into his heart, fellowship with God was broken, along with His heart. Through His sovereign grace and mercy, God seeks to restore order to His earthly kingdom. We find God’s plan and outline in the pages of His word as He makes a way for man to be redeemed from the chains of sin. The awesomeness of the situation is that God allows us to be part of the mission to reach out and share the Gospel to a lost and dying world. Ultimately, the mission of God finds its fulfillment in man’s worship and service to God in His kingdom.…
Since the world can only be created once, which way was it created? In “ The World on The Turtles back” and the Christian’s account in “Genesis,” they have differences such as how the world was created. They also have differences in humankind, and the authority of man over animals in the Beginning. Their similarities are also important just as much as the differences. Their similarities are that they believe essentially the same thing.…
As I found out, I struggle with it. I distanced myself for family, from the world, because I was afraid of this new revolution that my family is all going to die at some point in my life. Instead of talking about it, or letting my emotions go through the stages, I held everything in. I held all my emotions until I exploded. Every since my grandpa’s death, I have dealt with my emotions this way, and it’s constantly a learning experience to try to improve myself. Little eleven year old me, has taught me to express my feelings. I had so much repressed emotions from grieving, that it had lasted me years, and escalated how I dealt with any stress or conflict in my life. I try to be more open, and not shut out everything in my life. I know I’ll always have some ounce of regret for never saying my final goodbye, but I’ve since been able to move on. On December 30, 2013, I journaled an entry to my grandpa, it…
I was so upset with my mother, that I didn't say a word to her and just went straight to bed on the couch, due to not having a room anymore. The next morning when i woke up, my phone and tablet were lost. I couldn’t find them, i thought i had left them in my dad’s truck, but my mom walked out of her room and said “I had taken your phone and tablet, i think it is best if you don't have them for a couple days”. The next few days i had stayed inside and didn't talk to anyone, i wouldn’t eat,drink, or sleep. My mom made me go to the doctors, and they had diagnosed me with depression. My mom had set up an appointment with an counselor. She had told the counselor that she needed her to explain to me why she did what she had done. I was stuck going to the counselor for a couple. She also requested that I and returned back to school and continue on with my life. One day after my appointment, I was waiting for my mom to come pick me up and stepped out of the car was my dad, it was the happiest day of my life. I thought that he was here to stay for good, but he was only here for a short visit. It was the best week ever, I hadn't seen him for 4…
My relation with Faith has been with me before I was born, starting with my parent’s migration to America. As a twelve-year-old leaving a Communist ruling Country, my mother certainly needed Faith to get by. Now, because my mother was so young at the time, she did not have the mental…
Early into my teen years, my mother died, and not too long after that my father followed, and I wasn’t happy at all. “It’ll all be fine.” My grandma said. I was sure it would be; for some reason I wasn’t directly upset with the passings, but I was still upset nevertheless. I wasn’t sure what to do with myself so I tended to sulk and be sullen.…
The year 2008 was one of the most difficult one of my life emotionally. On March 4th 2008 my Grandpa died of pneumonia. This is the first time in my life that someone close to me had died. I was in 7th grade at the time. I remember how everyone in my family was saddened and in a sense shattered by this event. At first I was in complete shock for the longest time and in disbelief that he passed. We were supposed to celebrate his birthday four days later on March 8th.…
I remember being asked if I wanted to go to his funeral or not. At first I didn’t want to deal with it and just wanted to hide away from all of it. Then I found out my mom was going and I thought it would be nice to be with her out of a facility. My grandfather died of kidney cancer, but since 9/11 was going on while he was in the hospital, they said he woke up thinking he was in it. This probably happen because everyone that visited him watched the coverage while they were in the room. Even though he had died, that week wasn’t so bad because I got to spend it with my mom. Although, the week coming home was unbearable because with her I was able to forget about all of our problems and pretend everything was back to normal. The events of 9/11 and my grandfather passing made me realize that even though my family was going through a lot, with the kindness of those around us, we were going to survive. I didn’t live with my mom again until I was 20 and she needed help with my brother, but I kept moving forward in my…
Philosophy is the study or creation of theories about basic things such as the nature of existence, knowledge, and thought, or about how people should live.…
Thinking back to the death of my father really makes me sad, I remember three times a week after school I would go visit my father. I would go to the hospital room where my father was in a comma since his accident; my eyes would often wander to the Gayle Sayers football jersey my mother placed at his bedside. Fourteen years ago my father was fighting with a friend of his and he slipped during the fight. My father hit the back of his head extremely hard on the concrete ground, and he suffered a severe brain injury. The injury was so bad that the doctors had ruled out any possibility of him ever waking up again. When I saw my dad lying in that bed, frail but peaceful as if he were asleep, it’s hard to dwell on the “what ifs”: what if he didn’t go hangout with his friends? What if I asked him to go to play basketball with me at the park that day? I can’t pretend I have developed enough distance from the event to draw conclusions about life, but I have already begun to see myself in very different terms.…
Some nights I dream about Michael. He’s coming home from college for christmas break and he’s brought a girl with him. Our family is sitting at the dinner table and he’s giving my sister’s new boyfriend a hard time. He’s sitting in the audience, whooping and hollering as I walk across the stage and receive my diploma. Other times, he’s standing in a waiting room, introducing my sisters and me to his little girl. I dream about all of the moments my family and I never got to have with him and my heart breaks every single time. Michael has been gone for almost 16 years and yet he is still with me every day. I dream about him and what could have been; what should have been. Michael’s death teaches me something new almost every day. I have learned what loss is, how to deal with it, and how to grow from it.…