There is a moment in everyone’s life that changes them forever. For me that moment was when my best friend Santiago Huertas got diagnosed with leukemia in the seventh grade. This is the story on how we met, became friends, and how his diagnostics and death made me the person I am today. This story takes place at Hialeah Gardens Middle School in 2010. I met Santiago the first day of school in my Language Arts class. I didn't really speak to anyone during that class so I didn't notice him. However, when I realized that I also had him for the rest of my classes for the day, I thought it would be a good idea to become friends. Our school scheduled classes in block scheduling format, which means that we would have a cycle of three classes one …show more content…
Two years went by before Santiago was cancer free. The day he called to tell me I felt as if I could finally breathe again. Sadly, the happiness didn’t last long. Three months later the cancer was back and it came back stronger. Just as I got the breath back in my lungs, it was blown out once again. As much as it hurt, I put on a brave face because Santiago needed strength from everyone who loved him. After some time and another bone marrow transplant, the cancer began to gain advantage. Santiago’s body stopped responding to treatment. He was such an amazing person that he took it upon himself to get out of bed and go live life as a regular teenage boy one more day. On April 25, 2015, Santiago planned a day where he would do his favorite activities with his favorite people. That day we went go kart racing, went to his favorite restaurant. And went ice skating. It was such a beautifully spent day. At the time no one knew that day was the last time we would ever get to see, hug, kiss, and speak to Santiago. No one could’ve prepared us for what happened next. On May 19, 2015, Santiago passed away in his sleep. I still remember exactly what I was doing when I got the call. I was in my room watching cartoons and doing homework when my friend Maite called me crying and gasping for air. As soon as she was able to catch her breathe, she said three words I was not ready to hear “Santiago is dead”. …show more content…
Santiago would've wanted me to keep living my life to the fullest and only remember him with joy in my heart and a smile on my lips. The first two months after his death were rough. All I thought about were all the events and milestones he would be missing out on. Like getting his class ring. I mention the ring because when it was time to order my ring junior year, I ordered it in his memory. I made a ring we both would've loved. I have never taken the ring off and I don't ever plan on it. This ring is like having a piece of him with me wherever I go. Now, when I think of Santiago, I think of all the happiness he brought not only to me but to everyone around him. Losing my best friend changed my outlook on life. It taught me to appreciate the people around me and the memories I make with them. The experience of losing my best friend will always have a huge impact on my heart. However, instead of remembering him and feeling pain, I remember him and smile. No matter what happens or where I end up, I smile knowing I got to have such an amazing person in my life, even if it was only for a couple of
It is a very unfortunate fact of life that many people suffer from the scourge of cancer each year. When a family member is diagnosed with cancer, especially when it is incurable, it is painfully difficult for the family and the person who is being diagnosed to cope with the idea. However, it is extremely imperative that they do not lose hope. It is important for them to have courage and to keep fighting because if they give up then they will surely perish. Even when the situation looks bleak, they need to look at the positives and live life as normally as possible, taking in memories and making new ones. If they give up they will not survive. There are many examples of courageous acts in literature. In a very well known novel
Diagnosed with cancer and given just months to live, Randy Pausch decided to give a last lecture. Randy felt this was important so that he may give a sort of goodbye to those who he cared about, share advice and life-experiences that he felt were important, and most importantly for his kids, whom would never really get to know him because of their age. This book is a collection of stories and general life advice that Randy felt was important to share before moving on.
Santiago did go through the sequence of actions. The departure was when he first set out to go catch a fish. The fulfillment occurred when the old fisherman caught the fish and was able to bring it in to the docks . Finally, the return was when he pulled in to the dock and walked home. Some people will argue that he did not have a true fulfillment. On page 120 it says, “It is easy when you are beaten, he thought. I never knew how easy it was. And what beat you, he thought”. The sharks had eaten all of the fish and all that he brought in was the skeleton. No, it was not the fulfillment that he had hoped for, but it was better than bringing in nothing at all. The fact that Santiago survived the four day journey and brought in the skeleton is astonishing. He was able to inspire the people of his community and the young boy. The old man feels defeated in the last few pages of the book, but the boy encourages him: “‘Now we will fish together again’ ‘No I am not lucky. I am not lucky anymore’ ‘The hell with luck,’ the boy said. ‘I’ll bring the luck with me.’ ‘What will your family say?’ ‘I do not care. I caught two yesterday. But we will fish together now for I still have much to learn’”
It was a cold winter’s night when Abraham decided to get up for a walk. He sat in bed, threw his feet on the floor and rose like he had done countless times before with his cane in his hand, he put one foot in front of the other and followed with a turn but suddenly he heard a loud snap. He immediately found himself on the floor in agonizing pain. Later it was revealed that Abraham had broken his femur onset by Stage 3 bone cancer. After two long years of rehab and chemotherapy, Abraham lost his battle with cancer that plagued his body. Abraham's passing was greatly mourned by many including myself as he was my grandfather whom I deeply loved. The tragedy that befell my family awoke my curiosity about cancer. Suddenly I became consumed with a disease I had largely disregarded. In the months following my grandfather's death, most of my free time was dedicated to researching its inner workings, intricacies and
...ir honor. The society believed that if Santiago remained in the civilization he would be defying the traditional values. Jesus Christ also faced these traditional values within His society. Christ was killed to uphold the tradition of the church. By Christ claiming He was God, the church had been defied and thus became angry. Through the death of Jesus Christ though, the church believed that the traditional values could be upheld and remain unchanged. Overall, the comparisons between Santiago and Christ were uncountable. Marquez weaves the Biblical ideas throughout his novel in order to promote the destruction and recreation of cultural traditions. In doing so, the corrupt actions of the society were made known as the faults in people thoughts were confirmed.
To begin with, the fear of losing beloved things or people presents people with dilemmas that influence the continuation of their journey and they can only bypass these dilemmas by getting rid of the fear altogether. To begin, Santiago’s fear of losing everything he already earned makes him second guess his plans and therefore discourages him to continue his journey. Santiago expresses his doubts by stating that his “‘heart is a traitor…it does [not] want [him] to go on.’ ‘That makes sense,’ the alchemist answered. ‘Naturally it [is] afraid that, in pursuing [a] dream, [a person] might lose everything [they] [have] won’” (Coelho 145). Throughout the novel, Santiago learns to always listen to his heart, but in this situation if he did, it would result in abandoning his journey. The alchemist encourages Santiago to move on from this fear by stating that it is normal to feel scared, but not normal to give up on a dream because of a feeling. Santiago’s best solution in this situation is to conquer his fear of loss altogether and erase the doubts in his mind for a smoother journey. Next, the fear of losing life in the midst of the journey makes Santiago wonder if it is appropriate to risk his life to pursue a dream. Santiago learns how to handle this situation as “the camel driver had [once] said, to die tomorrow [is] no worse than dying on any other ...
At this point I had to expect anything, the amount of anxiousness over flowed me, and I was getting rather jumpy. However, when we made it through that narrow path through the trees, it opened up into a large clearing a small parking lot with pretty rocks around it, overlooking a serene pond. The best part was right above that pond. It was 8:23 on a late summer evening, the orange and yellow colors swirled around clouds in the sky, and then glistened in the reflection from the pond. The setting sun was easy on the eyes. In awe I realized I haven’t spoken since we arrived and I was bearing a slight smile on my amazed face. Snapping out of it, I begged him to take me
Foremost, Marquez foretold Santiago’s fate with the opening line “on the day they were going to kill him, Santiago Nasar got up at five-thirty in the morning to wait for the boat the bishop was coming on” to illustrate our fate is decided before we are born (Marquez 3). Marquez lets the reader know that Santiago was going to die but the fact that he also includes the plan Santiago had that morning
The entire town gathers around Santiago to watch as the affair comes to a head; as he stumbles home, the narrator says, “The people had stationed themselves on the square the way they did on parade days. They all saw him come out, and they all understood that now he knew they were going to kill him … They began to shout at him from every side, and Santiago Nasar went backward and forward several times, baffled by hearing so many voices at the same time” (Márquez 115). This scene conjures imagery almost of mockery; the way the people all line up to watch Santiago, knowing he will soon die, evokes the atmosphere of Roman coliseums and citizens watching gladiators and lions fight to the death, as if the event is nearly entertaining to the people. Every single person in that crowd has the ability to step forward and offer shelter to Santiago or inform him of what is coming, yet no one steps out of line, preferring to yell unintelligible advice from the sidelines, lost in a roar of voices. Some leeway can be given to them, considering that “[n]o one even wondered whether Santiago Nasar had been warned, because it seemed impossible to all that he hadn’t” (Márquez
...tentially be cured with a one surgery. He uses this story of death to share that life is short. “Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by Dogma. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” He uses repetition and parallelism to drive his message home.
The sun gleamed vibrantly on August 5, 2008, but I did not sense the warmth as my thoughts were elsewhere. I was only six years old at the time and preparing to begin first grade in less than one month. As I crossed the threshold into the home of my best friend, I had a sensation everything would change. At such a young age, I was having to tell my best friend goodbye. Blake Basgall had leukemia and would not be around when I returned from vacation, according to my mom. That day, I had spent hours coloring a picture in his favorite color, blue, so I could give it to him prior to heading to my grandma’s for the week. Blake was my first real friend. He had a thoughtful and daring heart through all of his surgeries and medication treatments. Blake Lee Basgall would become an inspiration
"In the dim light of a hospital room, seven year old Jimmy was remembering the day on which he was told he had leukaemia. He remembered his mother's tears, his father's bewildered anger, the alien feeling of the hospital's environment. His mind replayed the nausea and the diarrhoea caused by radiation therapy and chemotherapy, his hair falling out and kids laughing at him... Jimmy died gently, utterly exhausted having lost so much blood. His tissue had broken down completely, and he was bleeding from every body opening. His bed looked like a battlefield."
I had always dreamt and imagined of and things about my first kiss, what this short and small but entirely –maybe magical, or awkward moment would be like. Until it happened on my fourteenth birthday. But first, let me begin with the fact that I was moving away to California in a month and a half, an extremely dreaded time period and an entire state away sort of situation. I was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. Jordan and I, were great friends for a long time, teasing and poking fun at each other with no sign of infatuation toward each other whatsoever. He was my classmate, my confidant -my best friend. He was tall, had no money to his name but no one would have noticed, undoubtedly charismatic and mature for his age, and I was the complete
He was put into the hospital, and he was in need of blood. A stranger donated blood for him. Thanks to that stranger, he was able to live for a few more days. Those days were the most meaningful days of my life.