Zack had been raised a strong man his whole life, by his father. He had been captain of his high school wrestling team, a scholar student, manager at a travel agency and had scored a 1400 on his SAT. However, Zack had a string of unfortunate events that followed him throughout his life.
In first grade, Zack learned how to read, however his mind did not make it easy on him. When he was reading he would take twice as long as the other kids in his class. Zack was diagnosed with dyslexia that year, a disorder that involved difficulty in interpreting letters, numbers, and words. Nevertheless, no matter how hard Zack had it, he was always pushing himself further. He began to ace all his subjects in school. Zack showed the world that he had issues, but he not only functioned with them, he strived with them.
In fourth grade, Zack learned how to ride a bike. His dad spent every evening teaching him until Zack finally got it. His dad was so proud. Zack would ride his bike everywhere; to the park, to the library, to school. His dad saw that he finally loved something. Zack’s dad noticed that many other children rode their bikes to school. Their house was too far for Zack to bike the whole way, so his dad would drop him off a block away from school and Zack would ride the rest of the way. He happily rode his bike to school for months until he crashed his bike. His leg broke the instant he landed on the cold pavement. A week after leaving the hospital, Zack was relearning how to ride a bike with his cast on. His dad attached a tiny support beam for his leg to sit on while he rode. Pretty soon after the cast came off Zack was back to his normal routine of riding his bike to school after his dad dropped him off. His father realized that no matter what hardships came though Zack’s life, he would get past them. In middle school, Zack had to have knee surgery. Due to this Zack missed a lot of school. His tutor tried to help him, but there were not enough hours in the day. Zack would stay up night after night with his dad studying. He gave up riding his bike to study and it sat in the garage collecting dust.
High school was a hard time for Zack. He had two more knee surgeries, lost his dad to a drunk driver, and was battling depression. He wanted someone in his life to help him through all of his troubles. He finally got his middle school crush to go out with him. They fell in love instantly. But this didn’t last forever. A year into their relationship, Zack’s girl was diagnosed with terminal cancer. As he watched her cry in the doctor’s office he wished it was him getting the diagnosis and not her. She was given a year to live, so in their final months together they traveled all around the world.
Week one, they crossed the Grand Canyon. Week two, they took a ship around Africa. Week four, they climbed the Effie Tower. Week six, they saw the Northern Lights in Alaska. Week nine, biked around Florida. For forty-two weeks they traveled, until she became too sick walk. In the hospital room, while the sun was fading away, Zack proposed. And in her dying breath, she said yes. When he went to put the ring on her finger, her hand was already cold. Zack had lived his whole life with this cloud of darkness following him, and he would always stay strong, but for the first time, he cried.