Families come in all shapes and sizes. Family isn’t
determined by how many people are in your family, or how many set of
grandparents you have or even if you have both set of parents in your life.
It’s about so much more than that. Family is about having those people that you
know at the end of the day no matter what the situation they are there for you.
They care for your wellbeing and anything that you could need they are the ones
to be standing there in the middle of your darkest days with open arms to relieve
the struggle.
It truly took me some time to grasp that concept. It took situations to occur in my life to realize that you don’t always need so many people in your life to consider that family. That’s what family should be there for is the worst and always fight to find the best in something together. Sometimes under the worst circumstances, those are the moments that bring you closer than you ever thought imaginable. For at those moments nothing means more than the people that surround you and the moments you share together as a family.
One the morning of March 6 2003, I truly learned what it meant to be a family. It had been what seemed to be a normal day. It was the middle of winter and snow had started to cover the streets of Fall River. I remember it seeming as peaceful as could be as if there was not a worry in the world to pass the mind. I remember being excited because that day at school it was a so called “relaxed day.” My fourth grade teacher wanted to reward everyone for doing so good on our tests that we had taken a few days before. Chips, drinks, games, and movies were shared all that day to reward us for our hard work. That day had been going so perfect, or so I had thought.
I had been called down early from the main office saying I was going to be picked up from school early by my mother due to the inclement weather. Excited at the fact of going home early, I did not ask any questions and quickly hurried to see my mother and have that relief consume me. There had been something much more waiting for me in that office. As I walked into the office I arrive to my mother standing in the hallway with my older cousin Nathan, both with their eyes overwhelmed with tears of sorrow. Suddenly panic began to fill through my body. Frantically the thoughts started to run through my head. Keeping one important thought most prominent than any other. I began to think about my grandfather because at that moment I knew he was lying in a hospital bed waiting on that moment for God to open his arms and take him from the ones whom loved him most.
I softly uttered the words, “Please tell me Vavo is okay.” I remember the steps which seemed like forever of my mother walking towards me and taking my hands into hers and saying, “He is with God now sweetheart, I am sorry he did not make it.” The words that I had just taken in hurt like daggers penetrating the emptiness of my little heart. No consoling could have patched up the wounds from the words that had been spoken to me. My world had completely ended at that very moment and it was unimaginable to think how we would ever move on from this. How a family could be a family when the glue that held us all together was gone.
Walking up the stairs to my grandparent’s house and as I grasped the knob to open the door the rush of disappointment that would overwhelm me that he would not be sitting in that very chair which was known to everyone was his. I envisioned and wished to see that comforting face sitting there playing his card games and the moments when he got excited whenever he would win. Entering through that door and seeing nothing but an empty chair and a house full of pain and tears, the reality had finally started to set in. This had really happened and he was really gone. The only comfort that I had was that everyone in that room felt that same pain and sorrow as I was feeling at that moment. I truly at the very moment learned the meaning of family. What it really meant to love and be loved as a family. It wasn’t about how many gifts you got at Christmas or how much money you got in cards on your birthday, but the moments you share that make you love a little more than you did the day before.
It truly took me some time to grasp that concept. It took situations to occur in my life to realize that you don’t always need so many people in your life to consider that family. That’s what family should be there for is the worst and always fight to find the best in something together. Sometimes under the worst circumstances, those are the moments that bring you closer than you ever thought imaginable. For at those moments nothing means more than the people that surround you and the moments you share together as a family.
One the morning of March 6 2003, I truly learned what it meant to be a family. It had been what seemed to be a normal day. It was the middle of winter and snow had started to cover the streets of Fall River. I remember it seeming as peaceful as could be as if there was not a worry in the world to pass the mind. I remember being excited because that day at school it was a so called “relaxed day.” My fourth grade teacher wanted to reward everyone for doing so good on our tests that we had taken a few days before. Chips, drinks, games, and movies were shared all that day to reward us for our hard work. That day had been going so perfect, or so I had thought.
I had been called down early from the main office saying I was going to be picked up from school early by my mother due to the inclement weather. Excited at the fact of going home early, I did not ask any questions and quickly hurried to see my mother and have that relief consume me. There had been something much more waiting for me in that office. As I walked into the office I arrive to my mother standing in the hallway with my older cousin Nathan, both with their eyes overwhelmed with tears of sorrow. Suddenly panic began to fill through my body. Frantically the thoughts started to run through my head. Keeping one important thought most prominent than any other. I began to think about my grandfather because at that moment I knew he was lying in a hospital bed waiting on that moment for God to open his arms and take him from the ones whom loved him most.
I softly uttered the words, “Please tell me Vavo is okay.” I remember the steps which seemed like forever of my mother walking towards me and taking my hands into hers and saying, “He is with God now sweetheart, I am sorry he did not make it.” The words that I had just taken in hurt like daggers penetrating the emptiness of my little heart. No consoling could have patched up the wounds from the words that had been spoken to me. My world had completely ended at that very moment and it was unimaginable to think how we would ever move on from this. How a family could be a family when the glue that held us all together was gone.
Walking up the stairs to my grandparent’s house and as I grasped the knob to open the door the rush of disappointment that would overwhelm me that he would not be sitting in that very chair which was known to everyone was his. I envisioned and wished to see that comforting face sitting there playing his card games and the moments when he got excited whenever he would win. Entering through that door and seeing nothing but an empty chair and a house full of pain and tears, the reality had finally started to set in. This had really happened and he was really gone. The only comfort that I had was that everyone in that room felt that same pain and sorrow as I was feeling at that moment. I truly at the very moment learned the meaning of family. What it really meant to love and be loved as a family. It wasn’t about how many gifts you got at Christmas or how much money you got in cards on your birthday, but the moments you share that make you love a little more than you did the day before.
This topic certainly connects to your theme, and your writing overall is clear and competent. The death of a grandparent is an even many can relate to, which is a good thing, but it also means it's been written about many times before, so your goal should be to bring something fresh to the experience. For me,the most engaging details are the ones you glide over at the end, where I start to get glimpses of your grandfather in life.
ReplyDeleteAs for focus of the essay, I'm a little confused by the beginning, which seems not to connect so closely to the event that follows. I'm expecting something about an atypical sort of family, or about how one sometimes forms a family out of a ragtag collection of friends. Then you get in the second paragraph to some explanation of what families do, to help support each other. The essay seems more to center on loss (in its immediate sense), though, rather than how families help you get through these painful experiences. So I'm not quite sure what your main point is here. For me, the actual detailing of finding out about his death isn't the most interesting part of this--I'm more interested either in seeing your relationship with him and his importance/influence in your life (which is done more by showing his life than his death),. or what happens after a death in the family to draw everyone together. Does that make any sense? I'd suggest you start the revision process by considering focus--the main message you have for a reader, and I think it should be something more than just my grandfather died and I was sad. There are hints at other sorts of messages here, so I think you have lots to work with. I'd be happy to talk more about this if you'd like.