My Father: A Journey To Change In My Life

I was seventeen, about to enter my senior year at Dryden High School when my whole world changed. My father, William passed away at the age of sixty-three. As a result of my father being an alcoholic, my mother wouldn’t allow him around any children until he got help. The first time I remember meeting my father was a warm summer day in August, it was my sixth birthday. My father, the United States Army veteran, still carried himself in his usual 1950’s Grease fashion, complete with his hair slicked back, a cigarette and leather jacket even after being diagnosed with emphysema and diabetes. Two weeks before he passed away, my father came to visit me, I sat on the blue sofa in my mother’s living room while he sat on the matching love seat across the room, and suddenly in the middle of the conversation he grew quiet. It was the scariest moment in my life when I witnessed my personal Superman, who had fought in the Vietnam War and overcame his own personal demons and addictions, have a heart attack. I remember sitting in his hospital room, he had gray and white wires attached to his chest and a breathing mask over his mouth and nose. Even at the age of sixty-three, he resembled a young John Travolta, strong and lively, but at that moment he looked

If I didn’t change the way I was living I would end up with diabetes just like my father. In the course of six months after my father’s death I lost seventy-five pounds, but a healthier lifestyle wasn’t the only change that I made, I started taking my schooling more serious and even made it onto honor roll. Also, I had never thought about life after high school, but soon I began visiting college campuses and planning the future I wanted. Although losing my father was tragic, I decided to turn it into a life lesson. This unfortunate heartbreaking event transformed me from a shy, dependent girl into a strong, independent