How Death Has Affected My Life

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Illness and death are natural occurrences in life. Dealing with these events can be a challenge, especially when you’re a high school student. During my high school years, I experienced the death of my grandmother and my mom’s serious illness. These situations have affected who I am today.

My grandmother died a few years ago from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Prior to her death, she was dependent on supplemental oxygen supplied through a fifty-foot-long green plastic tube attached to an oxygen concentrator to help her breathe. When she died I lost her humor and companionship. I missed lying in bed watching murder mysteries with her. I felt secure wrapped in her unconditional love.
My mom has had lupus, an auto-immune …show more content…

As we took the two-hour drive to the transplant center I thought about how this event would alter my life. I was afraid that if my mom did not survive the transplant I would have to live the rest of my life without her. If she survived, I would have to be more responsible and dependable. While my mom was in the hospital the best way for me to support her was by making good decisions without her direct guidance. I realized that everything she had taught me, knowingly and unknowingly, was to my future success. At that moment I appreciated why she stressed my being independent and using critical thinking to shape my decisions. I had to literally grow up in two days’ time. Sunday morning, I was riding in the passenger seat of my mom’s car wondering what she was going to prepare for dinner. By Tuesday, I was driving myself to work and determining what my sister and I would have for dinner. My dad was with my mom in the hospital two hours away while my younger sister and I were at home. I was responsible for going to work, getting my sister to work, and taking care of home. No one said this is what you need to do starting today. I had to make decisions for myself since my dad was busy taking care of my mom and my mom was busy trying to survive. I never thought of parties, staying out all night, or doing anything that would cause my parents to worry. I had too

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