Coping with the Loss of a Friend

Personal Narrative- Coping with the Loss of a Friend

Life always has a beginning and an end. Most people consider the end when someone is in their elderly age or is extremely ill. This is true a lot of the time, but not in the case of my best friend; Ryan “Rufus” Schmidt. Ryan Schmidt was the victim in a hit and run accident which left him in a coma. His family decided to pull the plug and so he died at age 19. This loss of life affected me deeply and was extremely hard for me to cope with. Through the experience of learning to cope, however, I learned a lot about life.

Ryan “Rufus” Schmidt was a humorous and active boy. He always smiled and loved to hang out with friends. Ryan earned the nickname ‘Rufus’ because he played football (Soccer) like the player Rufus. Every night about ten guys, Rufus, and I used to hang out on what we called ‘The Circle’ (a circle road with four streets leading from it). I first met Ryan when I was just eleven years old and he was the person who introduced me to my other good friends. I only knew him for a short time because when I was thirteen my family and I moved to Florida. During This short time of being friends, however, Rufus and I shared a lot of interesting experiences and cared for each other a lot.

Rufus was the first person from our clique to get a job. It was to collect trolleys (shopping carts) from the parking lot of a supermarket. My friends loved to drink alcohol and because the legal age is eighteen a lot of people did it. Ryan was no different. Every paycheck that he earned was spent on alcohol for himself and our other friends. So basically he worked to get drunk. The most memorable experience of Rufus was when he and our other friends had a drinking competition to see who...

... middle of paper ...

... my achievements. I chose to have a career in criminology, and hope that someday I will be working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I also decided to prioritize my life. I realized that my education and my family are the most important things in my life and should be the main priorities in my life. Ryan could have been anything he wanted to be, but he loved friends and so chose to have fun. This is not a bad quality of Rufus because he lived a happy life and that’s all the mattered.

Ryan Schmidt lived a short but happy life. He had a lot of friends that cared very much about him and would do anything for him. Even though Ryan died, he still remains a part of my everyday life. Not only will the memory of him be in my heart forever, but I will thank him everyday for setting me on the right path. Someday when my time comes I know Rufus and I will meet again.