Grief over My Father's Death

894 Words2 Pages

Physics, sleep, physics, sleep. Physics. I shut off the alarm, switched on the light, and grabbed my textbook from my night-table. Today was just the start of another ordinary day of school, and I could not help myself from looking forward to the weekend as I went over Newton’s three laws in my head. As I turned to the next page of my notes, I was startled by the sound of a doorbell. At four o’clock, who could be at the door? Could it just be a simple mistake? The wrong house maybe? My intuition said otherwise; I knew something was wrong. My mother got up out of bed and rushed to the front window. I heard the voices of my father’s friends as my mother let them in. The next thing I knew, I heard my mother crying as the two men tried to console her; my father had passed away. In that instant, I felt as though the ground had been taken from beneath me. Not knowing what to do with myself, I questioned how any of this could have happened. How could he have died? He was only thirty-nine, he was healthy, he was happy. He had just called me from Dubai a few days ago, telling me what a wonderful time he was having and how he might be heading to Nairobi for a couple of days. What could have happened to him from the day of his last phone call to the day he – I paused- I could not even think of saying the next word. Standing at a podium two weeks later in front of all my family and friends, I delivered my father’s eulogy. Holding back my tears, I reflected on all that my father had achieved throughout his life, the wonderful moments we had shared together and all that he had taught me. My dad and I had always shared a special bond, one that went beyond that of a father and daughter. He was my best friend, my inspiration. He allowed me to... ... middle of paper ... ...ng out of the ordinary, we see it as a barrier in the way of our expected paths. As I came to accept my father’s death, I stopped seeing it as a barrier, but as a part of my path. Since I was a little girl, my father had raised me to be a strong-headed, persevering young woman. He always used to tell me that resilience is the key to life. If I could overcome an obstacle or recover from a strong blow, I could do anything. As I was coping with his death, I thought back to all the lessons he had taught me growing up. It was at that moment that I realized what the purpose of my father’s death was. His death was an opportunity for me to test myself on whether I could take all that he had instilled in me and use it when confronted with such an obstacle. I welcomed this challenge, knowing that it was time to show myself what I was made of, time to make my father proud.

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