When I heard the news of my grandfather’s impending death, my heart dropped. For years now he had been my idol, and the one person who genuinely understood me. He taught me countless lessons but none would be as great as the one I learned following his death. He was strong and inspirational, and adored by everybody who knew him. His stories memorized me and his willpower enchanted me. He was everything I aspired to be, but now my hero was collapsing. On August 22, 2007, my grandfather got a call about his latest blood work. He had felt sick for a while but the doctors were unable to give him an answer up until this point. They knew the news was not good, but neither of them had expected this. Doctor’s informed them that my grandfather had stage four lung cancer. Although they could do chemo, doctors warned my grandparents that my grandfather was lucky to live for six more months. It was a long drive home for them, neither of them spoke. My grandparents knew that once they got home, they would have to notify everybody of the appalling news and they would have to begin the fight, tog...
We all deal with death in our lives, and that is why Michael Lassell’s “How to Watch Your Brother Die” identifies with so many readers. It confronts head on the struggles of dealing with death. Lassell writes the piece like a field guide, an instruction set for dealing with death, but the piece is much more complex than its surface appearance. It touches on ideas of acceptance, regret, and misunderstanding to name a few. While many of us can identify with this story, I feel like the story I brought into the text has had a much deeper and profound impact. I brought the story of my grandmother’s death to the text and it completely changed how I analyzed this text and ultimately came to relate with it. I drew connections I would have never have drawn from simply reading this story once.
Despite the differences we share many similar diversions such as good quality time with our families. Arthur was known to spend countless hours reading and listening to music with his mom. Yet at the age of 6 Arthur had to face one of the most traumatic expierences of his life when he lost his mother, Matti Ashe, to a fatal case of toxemia while in labor. Similar to this experience I lost my grandfather at the age of five. Although I was impacted greatly it was not a loss as great as Arthurs loss of a loving mother. I Can recall the day it happened just as well as Arthur recalled the details of when he last saw his mother.
In December of 2010, my grandmother was diagnosed with a severe case of Mesothelioma. This news was incredibly overwhelming for my family because the oncologist said that the cancer had proliferated, and there was not much he could actually do. Later on, we found out she only had three more month to live. My grandma underwent chemotherapy for almost two months, but her condition worsened significantly. The oncologist demanded how her treatment plan would carry on, and never offered my grandma any choices. I wondered why my grandma was getting worse as the days went by. My fam...
Cancer. The word by itself can conjure images of severely ill and frail people attached to IV medications and chemotherapy drugs as they cling to life in a hospital bed. Other illustrations and pictures depict unrecognizable, misshaped organs affected by abnormal cells that grow out of control, spread, and invade other parts of the body. Cancer studies show that close to one-half of all men and one-third of all women in the United States will be diagnosed with cancer during their lives. Today, millions of people are living with cancer or have had cancer. As patients are newly diagnosed with their specific type of cancer, whether it be breast, lung, prostate, skin, or blood cancer, etc., each patient has to consider what will happen with their future health care plan and who will be involved in their long journey from treatment to recovery. Once diagnosed, cancer patients become the focal point and the center of all activity in terms of care but cancer not only physically invades the patient’s body and well-being, it goes beyond the patient and significantly affects the emotional stability and support from from their loved ones and caregivers. Based on the insidious nature of cancer and typically late detection of malignant diseases, family members (either spouses, children, parents, other relatives, and friends) often become the patient's main caregiver. These caregivers, also known as informal caregivers, provide the cancer patient with the majority of the support outside of the medical facility or hospital environment and become the primary person to provide various types of assistance. They provide the physical support with bathing and assisting in activities of daily living, they become emotional ...
Though most have a desire to leave earth and enter eternal life peacefully, without any sorrow, the departure of a loved one can be despondent. Previously in 2011, my grandfather passed away due to heart failure. It was an arduous battle, not only for my grandfather, but also for the close knit family surrounding him. His battle with heart failure enabled me to create unforgettable memories with him, even in his final days. Laughing together, playing together and learning significant values about life together made me grow to become a more mature and wise person. Therefore, my personal experience is entwined with empathy because the death of my grandfather has made me realize how dismal it is to lose someone important. It also interplays with self-interest because I have grown as an individual to deal with the ache that is attached to losing a family member. It has helped me to realize how beautiful the gift of life is. Stephen Dunn, the poet behind Empathy and my story are connected because they both involve the feeling of empathy for others and the self-interest of an individual. They help us to grow and learn about ourselves and the emotions of
The grandfather passing away has a major impact in the narrator’s life. As the grandfather was passing
Born in the early 1940’s, my Grandpa grew up in a household of 4 other siblings. He grew up in Wayland, Michigan, having many very interesting memories. One time he was hit by a car. With his hands flying he explained, “ It knocked me so hard my shoes flew right off my feet.” he then stayed in the hospital for 3 weeks due to a severe concussion. During this time, he completely lost his ability to read. He says he never thought reading or writing was very important until this accident. Another memory he remembers was one day he came home from school and his family had been gone all day and the bus pulls up to his drive and right as it stops, he sees his house collapse. There had been a fire and the fire department hadn't gotten there in time. At that moment he realized that life isn’t about what you have, it’s about the friends
October 10, 2013 was the day my grandmother passed away. While this may not seem to be significant, this was a monumental moment in my life. Prior to her death, I had been grappling with depression for many years, and with her death, it only seemed to intensify. My grandmother had resided with us; she had become almost a second mother to me. Her death was the first death I had ever experienced firsthand. The experience had been traumatic for me to say the least, but it had also taught me a lot about myself, and life. In the months following her death, it seemed that all my relatives began passing away. My grandfather passed away, two of my uncles passed away, and then my aunt.
Monday morning my family and I woke up to some unfortunate news: my great aunt had passed that night. I sat with my mom as my dad told her. The three of us spent a bit of time together talking. Some of it was to reminisce, other parts were to make sure the others were going to be able to handle the rest of our day. All three of us utilized the Jack Gibb’s Pairings of empathy and spontaneity to not only care for one another, but also speak openly and freely about the news.
As I grow older, I will attempt to create a life that I can look back on and think, “That was a life worth living.” Recently, my boyfriend’s grandfather passed away. He knew that his last day was near, but he kept saying that he was not sad, for he had lived a long full life (Matthew Morel, personal communication, February 2016). Contrarily, my grandmother, who is still living today, is obviously in a state of
My niece walked up to the tree to sing a song while my uncle spread her ashes, and we all sat on the trailer awaiting her final departure. She started to sing, and then the ashes flew. It was windy that day and it carried her ashes much further than intended; this made me very emotional. I kept thinking, “that’s my grandma; she’s just a pile of dust flying in the air.” I began to cry hysterically to the point where I couldn’t breathe or see. “She was a person, I could have spent more time with her, what if she didn’t know how much I loved her?”, were the words that kept repeating in my mind. My whole family was in shock at how badly I was taking it, especially since I was not close to her. I, myself, couldn’t even grasp why it was tearing me apart so badly, and then it hit me; she died knowing that I had gone nowhere in my life; she died and was never able to feel proud of me; she died with the belief I will always be the person I was. This was the turning point that would change my life
As a University student now looking back on the past, all the trials and hardships, my grandmother passing was not all dreadful. In fact, this dreadful event actually opened up my eyes for me to reach my highest peak. It has taught me to be strong and proactive. In addition, it taught me that I should get all I can while I am alive and do not take anything, such as education, for granted.
In the year of 2004, my grandmother was diagnosed with Lung Cancer. My first thought was “My grandmother is going to die,” although, that was not the result I anticipated. It was merely a hasty thought that intersected my mind. Based on the information from the doctor, I wasn’t sure on the amount of time I would have left to share with my grandmother. During this time, I knew that I would have to cherish each moment to a greater magnitude. Oftentimes, daily events of life
After patiently waiting a while for my Granny Jo’s results to come back, which felt like years! it finally came that day my Granda Alfie went to hospital with my Granny too see if things where looking up or tragic. This was a very tense time in my life, however I had so much hope my Granny would be good as new as she is a brave women. The feeling of the wait was unbearable. I remember my mum sitting me down that day to tell me the news which I was hoping was great new… The news was not so great not at all! My Granny Jo had lung cancer - my heart sunk rock bottom when I heard this news I felt my pulse in my ears, my head was about to explode. Everything in the room felt distance I did not know what to feel or do. This was a time in all my family’s life and mine which was a huge change everything around me felt so different and I felt I had a lot of growing up to do to be there for my Granny and my Family. Everyone w...
It was June 6, 2011. I remember taking my mother to the County Hospital’s emergency room. She seemed extremely exhausted; her eyes were half-closed and yellow, and she placed her elbow on the armchair, resting her head on her palm. I remember it was crowded and the wait was long, so she wanted to leave. I was the only one there with her, but I did not allow her to convince me to take her home. I told her in Spanish, “Mom, let’s wait so that we can get this over with and know what’s going on with you. You’ll see everything is okay, and we’ll go home later on.” I wish then and now that would have been the case. Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with colon cancer that had spread to many parts of her body including her lungs and kidneys. The doctor said to me not considering that I was a minor and my mother’s daughter, “Her disease is very advanced and we don’t think she will live longer than a year.” With this devastating news, I did not know what to do. I thought to myself that perhaps I should cry, or try to forget and take care of her as best I could and make her laugh to ease her pain.