Before and After turning point | Teen Ink

Before and After turning point

June 8, 2009
By alejandra torres BRONZE, Lawndale, California
alejandra torres BRONZE, Lawndale, California
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

When you are living life, and having good times with all the people around you, you never expect anything bad to happen, but when you least notice it, what you never seem to expect happens.

I experienced that not too long ago. It was three days before my birthday and I was walking home from school. When I got to my house I opened the door and saw my mom, my dad, and brother talking, and on the bed was a suitcase. I asked, “What was going on”, and my mom pulled me away and took me to the living room. She told me that my dad and she were leaving to Mexico that night because my grandma got very sick and that the doctors could not do anything about it. These were going to be her last days alive. I looked at her in surprise, I didn’t cry because I knew my grandma was strong and she would be okay. The thing was I didn’t know what to tell my dad, he looked sad and wouldn’t speak to anyone and wouldn’t even eat. I felt bad and couldn’t put myself in my dads’ position, I had never seen him like that and as soon as I did, it hurt me because I felt that he was not going to be the same anymore.

They left that night at 9pm and my brother, sister, and I were at home speechless so we fell asleep. The next morning I woke up feeling a bit better. I still had the whole situation on my mind, but not as much. My mom checked in with us that afternoon and told us that my grandma was not getting any better. I stayed quiet and went to my room and fell asleep. That’s basically the only thing I liked doing because it made me forget about the pain I was feeling. The next day came, which was October 24, it was now one day until my birthday I didn’t know whether I should celebrate it or not, either way their would be no way I could. That night I was getting prepared for the homecoming game to get my mind off the things that were happening, but as soon as I was about to leave the phone rang. My heart started beating fast I answered, it was my mom. She asked me the usual questions like “how were we, have we ate”? ect. Then I asked, “how is my grandma?” and that’s when my mom stayed quiet, I knew it already from the silence from phone to phone she slowly said, “ She passed away this morning”, it hit me hard, I asked how was my dad all she said was “hanging in there”. My mom told me to call my brother and tell him. When I hung up the phone I didn’t know whether I should cry or not I felt weak but no tears came out. It wasn’t until two minutes after when I called my brother and repeated the words that my mom told me.

I hung up the phone and started to cry because as soon as I said those words I realized that this actually happened. The question here was why? I couldn’t get over it and like the other days I just went to sleep.

It was the next day my birthday when I woke up, to balloons in my room and a cake from my brother and sister; I appreciated it a lot at the time it really made my day. Then the phone rang. I knew it was going to be my parents. I had fear of speaking to my dad. I didn’t know what to say or how to act when he would come back home. They called to say happy birthday and I’m sorry for the situation. I cried because I knew it wasn’t their fault and they felt bad because they were missing my birthday. I said it was okay and things happened for a reason. After that phone call I just watched movies at home and tried to kill time until it was time to go to sleep. My parents got home the next day and all I did was give them a hug, I didn’t talk about it ever again but I noticed the difference between the character of my dad three days before, and the person he had just became.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that no one ever knows what will happen and when it will happen. I didn’t think my grandma was going to get sick on any random day, but she did. I didn’t get to say my last good byes to her but I’m pretty sure she knows how I felt, but as someone who has been through this, I advise to always let the people you know, how you feel about them, because when you least expect it something might happen to them.


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