The Fatal Jet Ski Ride
Walking down the cold, white, hospital hall, my mind was racing a million miles an hour. How could she be dead? Two people in two days...what are the chances? We rounded the corner, my cousin Daniele holding on to me as hard as she could, me gripping her arm to keep myself in pace. There she was, Pam Doan, her body I should say, lying there under that white sheet.
Pam, was my cousin's best friend, and mine too, for the fourteen days I'd been there. Two weeks earlier I had arranged for my boyfriend, Charles, to come pick me up and take me back with him to Bridgeport, Nebraska to stay with my Aunt Annie, Uncle Gaylen and my cousins Casey, 18 and Daniele, 15. I arrived there June 23rd, 2002, the day after my 17th birthday.
The first few days consisted of Daniele teaching me how to drive her car, seeing how I didn't have one of my own there, and she couldn't drive yet. I had never driven a stick shift before, and it was a pretty comical experience for the both of us. But once I had mastered it, we drove all over that little town. Just Daniele, Pam and I. Pam was 17 also, looking forward to her 18th birthday in November.
Our days started routinely. Daniele and I getting up and showering, convincing her dad to take the boat out to the town lakes so we could go tubing and water skiing. Meeting Pam out there and the three of us spending all day in our swimsuits getting tan and sore from riding those damn tubes around the lakes. A few trips here and there into town to my aunt's mexican restaurant to get some food. Then it was back into the shower as we got ready to go out for the night. There were places to go and people to meet.
I met my cousin's ex-boyfriend, Aron, and his friend Kyle. Then there was "Perv", whose real name I haven't a clue. At one social gathering, Daniele and I were having a conversation with a couple of guys, one who was Aaron Houston and the other was Stuart Klassen, who will always be known to Daniele and I as "Possum".
Then along came the 4th of July weekend that will haunt me forever. My uncle took their family camper out to the lakes and Daniele and I took turns with her brother, Casey, staying out there.
Diane Urban, for instance, was one of the many people who were trapped inside this horror. She “was comforting a woman propped against a wall, her legs virtually amputated” (96). Flynn and Dwyer appeal to the reader’s ethical conscience and emotions by providing a story of a victim who went through many tragedies. Causing readers to feel empathy for the victims. In addition, you began to put yourself in their shoes and wonder what you would do.
Her eyes were heavy, her body weak. As she crawled into the bathroom two feet away, Abby felt her body slowly succumbing to the numbness. All of her pain would be gone in less than 10 minutes, so why would she want to turn back? What about the senior trip Abby had planned with her best friend? What about the chair at the dinner table that would now be vacant? A couple of hours later Abby’s family came home from her little sister’s soccer game. Little did they know what they would find as they approached the top of the stairs. Her little sister, Ali, stood still as she looked down at her feet. There on the cold floor lay her big sister, her role model, and her super hero. Ali was crushed when she saw the pill bottle in her hand and the pale color of her skin. Her mom fell to her knees screaming and crying, wondering where she
Cold sweat trickles down Kate's back as she stands over the hospital bed, watching the mother she cares for slowly pass away. The droning beep of the monitoring heart machine pierces through the air. Kate kisses her mother one last time, wiping warm tears from her watery eyes, and sluggishly begins to leave. Step by step out of the door the pain intensifies in her heart, but Kate must keep staying strong and move on. A new chapter of her life begins here. Much like Kate, Anna Quindlen undergoes with the catastrophic death of her mother dying of cancer, leaving her arriving at college with an entire new perspective. Her significant childhood and maturement, experiencing the death of her mother, and giving birth to three children influenced Anna Quindlen with her writings.
I do not remember much, but what I remember is that I had a lot of fun, got to see a beautiful sunset, and got to play in the beach for a long time, and then I have to roam Boardwalk and go shopping with my family. I finally get to go back and make fun and memorable memories.
A month went by of us packing, getting ready, and us counting down the days until we left for Florida and then Puerto Rico. The day came that we were leaving for Florida. We were in the car for 5 hours. We finally got to the hotel and we went to dinner. After that, we went to the pool and then we went to our rooms and went to sleep.
My mom had been going to school in Greeley and staying at my Aunt Margaret's house . She had been away for two weeks and wanted to come home for the Fourth of July weekend. My mom had suggested that I go back with her and visit colleges, shop, go to movies and just spend time together. I had been feeling pretty sorry for myself since she had been gone. I had been working alot as a maid and helping my dad run the house, I was getting very irritated with my siblings as I felt that I was the only family member doing my part to help my dad. I was really excited to have a week with my mom to myself. The whole ride over we were talking about what I wanted to do that week. Making plans and having "me time" seemed very important at the time.
In the immediate area I had the Papworth kids and Trey Vars to pal around with. However, by 1964 I had branched out and was routinely spending my days with Pieter Bergen and Rhea Inglehart, or the Thomas kids water skiing. I found Rhea most attractive, and although we never became an item, we did become good friends. Rhea and Pieter resided a few miles away near Lake of the Isles while the Thomas family were another mile or two further downriver on Tar Island across from Grenadier Island. Both of those islands were in Canada. As it turned out, I later married Rhea’s cousin whose family had a summer cottage on Grenadier Island.
The bus that took us to the Theme Park was huge, with room for a
By the time Julie returned her grandmother was ever so lightly snoring. The look of gratification and appreciation of Julie’s previously stern face melted my heart and again my eyes welled with tears. The fence Julie had built around her heart slowly disintegrated as she observed the bond I had developed with her “mom”. With a quivering voice, Julie revealed the stress and emotional turmoil of watching this devastating disease imprison the only mother she had ever known.
When we got there I was pleased to be out of the car. We went to my grandma and grandpa’s house because we didn't have a house yet. My mom
On October 13, 1972, forty-five people on board departed from Uruguay to Chile. The small plane crashed onto a frosty mountain in the Andes. Ten weeks later, it was considered as one of the most harrowing nightmare in recorded history. Successfully, sixteen people were rescued from the accident. In between, the survivors suffered spiritually and physically where they became powerless every following day.
It was in July, and we wanted to go camping. I asked my dad if we could go up to our family's cabin in Elk Springs, which is near Montrose. He agreed, so Chase, Tyler and I, all sixteen years old, packed our stuff and were ready to go camping. With excitement, we jumped into Chase's truck, and took off to the woods.
My dad and sister watched television, my mom crocheted, and I worked on my Kinderbuch for German class. As usual, everyone but me fell asleep. At 10:30, we packed all of our things into the back of the Tahoe and pulled around to he front to return the keys.
A typical day for me is to go the lake and ride my Jet Ski. I do things when the weather is nice or hot. My family and I spend the day together, and sometimes Hector comes along, and sometimes my cousins Jesus, Jose, Jecsan. We all have fun together. Right now I am studing news subjects like, Science, Algebra, Social Studies.
The entire family got together and it was always a last minute thing but no matter what was going on we all decide we would go up to County Park Lake to have family time. There would be my grandma and my Aunts and Uncles and their kids when we pulled up to the parking lot. Under the shade trees the women would be sitting trying to stay cool and the older men of the family stand around a grill they would be sitting up the charcoal pyramid to lite to start grilling the food while the kids where at the tot lot playing the equipment you could hear the laughter of the kids playing . Also the mean talking about which is the best way to grill. The women would be laughing at the guys arguing over which way was bett...