Tears of Pain and Joy

Haripriya Balakrishnan
Johnson
English 111
02 October 2014

Tears of Pain and Joy
A life and death situation can happen in the blink of an eye. — On a cold January night, my mother and I were driving to pick up my dad from work because his vehicle was in the repair shop. I was 12 years old at the time, and I thought that I had my whole life planned out. I was going to become a doctor and move to New York City. However, what I didn't know about was how fast things would change.
My mom and I were listening to the radio and talking to each other. I cannot recall what we were talking about, but I can remember what happened when we made the left turn to Dad’s workplace. As Mom turned the steering wheel, I felt a very heavy impact, the car started spinning, and I hugged my body trying to protect myself. I didn’t know what was going on. Everything happened so fast. After a while, the car stopped spinning. My mom and I tried to get out, but neither of our doors would open. I remember yelling for help. A man came to help us, and after much struggle, the man got one of the doors open. Because the driver of the other vehicle did not have his lights on, Mom did not see him coming in our direction, and that is what caused the accident.
After we got out of the car, I saw my dad running towards us. I was crying and yelling that I didn’t know what happened. Dad hugged Mom and me, assuring us that everything would be fine. The paramedics arrived and took care of us. Although we had minor injuries, we refused to go to the hospital that night because we wanted to go home.
Mom and I did not sleep well because we were both in pain; therefore, Dad took us to the hospital the next morning. While waiting in the hospital, my mom received a call from my older brother, Lee. “Grandma had a major stroke. She is in the hospital now. The doctors said that there is a high chance that she won’t make it through the night,” he cried. My mother panicked, but she assured Lee that everything would be okay. Mom hung up the phone and told us what happened.
As we were walking to Grandmother’s hospital room, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I kept trying to reassure myself that everything would be okay; however, there was fear in the back of my mind. After being so close to death myself, and with tears streaming down my face, I feared the death of my grandmother.
When we arrived at Grandmother’s hospital room, I was startled by how fragile and tired she looked. Although her eyes were open, she said nothing. As I stood there looking at Grandmother, I remembered her favorite quote by Robert Frost, “In three words I can sum up life: it goes on.” She had spoken this quote to me several times in my life. On that day, those words brought me strength. I came to the understanding that life will go on even without Grandmother. I walked over to her and whispered in her ear, “I love you forever and always Grandmother. No matter what happens, I will always remember that life goes on.” The next morning, my grandmother passed away.
Getting back to living the way I did before the car accident and the passing of my grandmother was difficult. I cried a lot, but those tears of pain turned into tears of joy. Every time I felt sad, I thought about my grandmother and the happy times we had together. I knew she did not want me to feel sad.
After four years, I still find it hard to believe that over the course of two days I was in a car accident, and lost my grandmother. Life is a great teacher. These major life events taught me that life and death can happen in the blink of an eye. Tears of pain can become tears of joy. I often think of Grandmother’s favorite quote and I remember that no matter what happens, life always goes on.