Death of My Cousin- Personal Narrative
"Meet me back at my house in ten minutes". My cousin Albert said as he revved up the engine to his bike and pulled away. So I reached in my pocket grabbed my keys and walked into my house and headed strait for the fridge. Looking for a quick fix I push the milk to the side and grabbed some left over chicken from the night before. After deciding how to make it I put it in the microwave and slammed the door shut, and set it on high for 5 minutes. While waiting for the chicken to be reheated I changed my clothes and washed my face. Soon after the microwave-beeped ad I went to the kitchen to eat the day old food. When I was finished I brushed my teeth, grabbed my jacket, and was out the door. I jump into my car and was off to meet my cousin. On my way I reflected on my life and how much fun I have.
I drove up to his house and found it odd that he or his bike wasn't there. I waited and waited. Five minutes passed, and then 10. I started to worry so I knocked on the door but there was no answer. I didn't think much of it. I figured he probably went to the corner store before he headed home.
I got back into my car and took the usual route to the neighborhood deli. I never made it there- My ride was cut short by a wall of ambulances and yellow Police line do not cross tape. And at that moment I knew my live would never be the same.
Now it's been about 12 months after his death but these wounds are way too deep for time to heal. Things aren't supposed to be this way, not at this age. At times like this you begin to look at life in a different way. No longer is it something to be taken for granted. After the incident I realized that life isn't a game anymore. So I was on my way to straitening my self out. I noticed myself taking things slower and safer. As apposed to being adventurous and taking risks. Another thing I realized is that I can't stop myself from living. Forward is the only direction I want to go. I now focus on my priorities and set goals for myself, Job applications started to get filled out and I though it was about time to take school a little more seriously.
But I did not know about the demons he was fighting within that is why it hurts because looking back he was screaming but no one came to rescue him. But he never told anyone he had depression not even his girlfriend, and I still do not get it. But I am still fully grasping and learning from it. The weekend before he committed suicide I was on a hike with him and some other friends and no one noticed. This is what hurts me the most because I could have done something but did not. The rest of the school week I was a mess. I attended school Thursday because I was still could not grasp it. His wake was scheduled for Friday and that was when I finally realized. I spent the majority of Thursday night crying and got little sleep and stayed home from school Friday. At hs wake, I could barely keep my composure and started to cry when I saw his casket and talked to his parents. It took me weeks to start acting myself again and by then I was behind on school work. My teachers were very accepting of my situation and gave me extra time so when I turned in all my late work I lost no credit but instead of feeling grateful I felt
Can you single out just one day from your past that you can honestly say changed your life forever? I know I can. It was a typical January day, with one exception; it was the day the Pope came to St. Louis. My brother and I had tickets to the youth rally, and we were both very excited. It was destined to be an awesome day- or so we thought. The glory and euphoria of the Papal visit quickly faded into a time of incredible pain and sorrow, a time from which I am still emerging.
Death a familiar friend, who seemed to always show up when I least expect it. Somehow when he appeared and blindsided me, I should have known. Things never can stay that good for long. My grandmother, taken by death to once again be reunited with her soul mate after years of morning. With this came the harsh effects of the diagnosis, the hospital visits at all hours, medication, death, and home.
The process of grief is not something that has a clear start and stop point. You can’t say, “Here are the five easy steps to grief recovery.” The process may have many stops and starts. About the time you think you have finally moved on, you may catch yourself in a memory hug and shedding some tears. It takes as long as it takes.
I felt like my life was over. When I heard the news, I can remember feeling like all the breath was taking from my body. I just fell to knees sobbing. Days went by and I had just shut down completely, I did eat or talk to anyone. I did not even sleep. A few nights before the funeral, I was in my bed crying and my mom walked in and laid beside me and held me the whole night. That night was the first night since the accident that I slept. The next morning I began to talk to my God Dad about how I felt. He told me to write it all down and tear it up afterwards. After I wrote my thought and felling on that white piece of paper filled with tears and memories, I began to tear it into tiny pieces. I felt like I had finally accepted what had happened and I was ready to move passed it. Writing literally saved my life. It has become a way for me to relieve stress and
I saw my wife and my daughter at the funeral for the first time since the accident. I realized that I still had something to live for. I still had Amy and Kayla, and they needed me. I had to stop feeling sorry for myself and concentrate on getting better. It took many weeks to recover physically and years to recover emotionally. Amy and I focused on raising our daughter and tried to continue living a normal life. Unfortunately, some feelings and emotions just don’t go away. Guilt and anger drove us apart, and we ended up divorcing a few years later.
It is amazing how many things we take for granted. We make plans for the day, and don't think twice about how those plans can be taken away in the blink of an eye. I never thought much about it myself, until I was faced with the shock, and undeniable truth of my cousin's death. I don't think anyone really thinks about tragedy until they are actually faced with shocking news.
It was a Monday night; I remember it like it was yesterday. I had just completed my review of Office Administration in preparation for my final exams. As part of my leisure time, I decided to watch my favorite reality television show, “I love New York,” when the telephone rang. I immediately felt my stomach dropped. The feeling was similar to watching a horror movie reaching its climax. The intensity was swirling in my stomach as if it were the home for the butterflies. My hands began to sweat and I got very nervous. I could not figure out for the life of me why these feelings came around. I lay there on the couch, confused and still, while the rings continued. My dearest mother decided to answer this eerie phone call. As she picked up, I sat straight up. I muted the television in hopes of hearing what the conversation. At approximately three minutes later, the telephone fell from my mother’s hands with her faced drowned in the waves of water coming from her eyes. She cried “Why?” My Grandmother had just died.
Something that I really struggled with was the passing of my Grandmother. She was a strong woman and an inspiration to everybody in my family. I think that I struggled with it because she was a great human being, I kind of looked up to her a bit, and of course she was part of my family. I think that along with her passing, I struggled with the fact that she died when I thought that she did nothing wrong in her entire life and did not deserve to die. Mainly the fact that she was a really good person and she just died like that.
What made the death of my mother a stressor for me was that besides the fact that I lost my mother, her passing was so sudden; she was alive when I went to bed that night and then she was not when I woke up the next morning. She had been unwell for a really long time, but none of us had ever thought that it was bad enough to take her life. Her death affected every aspect of my life and my family’s life; it forever changed my relationship with my father and it will continue to affect how my family operates for the rest of our lives. If she had not died, then my father would not have remarried and I would not have gotten a stepmother; that is just another aspect that was permanently altered by one event. On top of that, she passed away at home
After we got off the airplane, we rented a car and drove to my Uncle Joe?s house. We finally got there and then we all went out to eat dinner. We went to some Italian restraunt and boy was it good. To this day, I have never tasted anything as good as the Veal Picata I had that day. I ate so much that I could hardly move and once I got back to my uncle?s, I just passed out and went to bed. I had a big and exciting day ahead of me. I was going to Universal Studios and I couldn?t wait.
As I finished eating, I heard the horn of my uncle’s car outside of my house, they seemed happy and ready to go. We all left at the same time, heading to my grandparent’s ranch. Once we get there, my cousins and I rushed to my grandfather’s fruit trees. He had apple trees, orange trees, lime trees, among others delicious fruits. As the time passed, lunch time came and everybody was called to eat. One of my uncles knows how to cook, and since he was in charge of the meat, he knew what to do to make it better. I remember the taste of that meat, it was delicious and everyone love
I remember it as it were yesterday, the morning of October 31 1986, I heard my dad’s voice early in the morning; “Mike, get up! Your grandpa died!”
I was too scared. I never wanted to drive again. Just the thought of being behind the wheel made me nauseous. But as time went on, I began to realize that I had to get back out there. If I kept putting it off, I would have never driven again and my family felt the same way. So I started back slowly. I would drive to the store or to my friend’s house and then gradually, I began to start driving normally again. That experience has definitely changed my life forever. It has made me a safer driver who always looks twice and pays attention. I never want to experience anything like that again and I will do everything in my power to make sure I do not. I also do not take my days for granted anymore because, I never know when one will be my last. That afternoon still haunts me to this day. It has now been almost two years since then and I still have yet to drive under that same underpass. It still terrifies me to think about it. But, no matter how awful that day was, I know it had to happen. It changed me, not only as a driver, but also as a
Almost everyone in the world has relatives. It might be a brother, sister, or in many cases a cousin from your father’s or mother’s family. I also have a cousin who is five years older than me. Even though we hardly have the chance to meet with each other, whenever I introduce him to my friends, the topics are always about playing football and reading books.