Personal Narrative: A Brain Disorder

When I was in middle school, my younger brother was diagnosed with a rare malignant brain tumor. My life was turned upside down. I spent many days sitting in hospital waiting rooms while my brother underwent treatment. One day while sitting at the hospital craft table, the only place for kids in the waiting room, a young girl motioned for me to help her make a beaded bracelet. I assembled the bracelet with the cord and beads she pushed my way. She smiled broadly as I tied the bracelet onto her wrist. Even though this little girl was about to begin her grueling cancer treatment, she left the waiting room smiling because of her new bracelet. Though I never even knew the girl’s name, that image has stuck with me over the years.

I was twelve