The day my life turned upside down started just like any other week day. I woke up to my mom calling me, telling me it was six thirty and I needed to wake up to go to school.

I slipped out of bed, got changed, brushed my hair, and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Everything was normal.

My mom drove me to school that morning. We were a little late, for whatever reason, so she pulled up in front of the school.

“Bye Rachel, honey, I love you. Have a good day, be good.” She said as I slipped out of the car. These were the things she told me everyday.

“Uh huh.” I said as I closed the car door. ‘Uh huh’. I usually said, ‘bye mom, I love you to’, but that day I didn’t. If I only knew then what I know now. I ran into the school to start my day.

Nothing happened in Reading/English. Nothing happened in History. Nothing happened in Geometry. Nothing happened in Spanish. Nothing happened at Lunch. Nothing happened in Science. It was a typical day at Hyattsville Middle School. Where I attended the eighth grade.

In science, we waited for our principal to come on the over head PA, dismissing us all. The principal came on the announcements telling us which buses where here. This meant that the walkers/car riders, which I was, had to wait. Great.

She finished with the buses and the walkers were allowed to go. Finally.

I left the science room and stopped by my friend Anne’s locker. This was something I usually did after school. I asked her if we had a Girl Scouts meeting tonight and she told me no. I could never keep track, so I always asked her.

After we ended our little conversation, I left. I went down the stairs and out the school doors. I walked over to the hill where I knew, or thought, my mom would be picking me up.

When I looked for her little Nissan Maxima, I got a surprise and instead saw my dad’s huge Chevrolet Avalanche. I didn’t think much of it. Maybe the car was having trouble and she drove the truck. If only I’d known.

I walked over to the truck and saw my dad sitting in the driver’s seat. This was a little odd, seeing as how my mom usually picked me up. I just shrugged my shoulders and got in the car.

“Hi, Papa, how was your day?” I asked before even looking over at him.

“R-rachel.” He croaked out. I looked over to see his face stained with tears and his hands shaking. He was crying, something my dad never did. I immediately thought the worst, or what I thought could possibly happening.

“What happened to Soldier?” I asked. Soldier is my 135 pound blood hound. I feared he had bitten somebody and was taken away to be killed.

“Nothing.” He replied.

“What happened to Amber?” I asked. Amber is my sister’s cat.

“N-nothing.” He said again.

“The house? Dada?” I asked. Dada is my grandfather.

“No. M-mama”, he said before crying even harder. My mom had been having chest pains for a while now. About a year earlier she’d had a heart attack. She survived, but the doctors said she had some blockage in the arteries or whatever.

“She’s in the hospital?” I asked. My dad shook his head.

“She’s gone.” He said. “I found her on the kitchen floor. Around eleven o’clock. She’s dead.” He coughed out. No! No, No, No, No, NO! Oh, My GOD! This can’t be happening! Wake up! Rachel! WAKE UP!
“Oh, my god. OH MY GOD!” I said when I finally found my voice. No way this could happen!

“I’m so sorry honey.” My dad said as we drove off.

“Is she still at the house?” I asked. He nodded.

“Gashes Funeral Home is coming to take her. Aunt Diane and Dada are already at the house. Cousin Theresa is coming.” My dad said.

“But the house is messy!” I said. He nodded again.
It wasn't that messy, but I like things to be really neat.

“I know, but there’s nothing I can do. We’re going to pick up Rebekah. I have to tell her.” My dad said as he drove to Buck Lodge Middle School to get my younger sister.

We parked out front of her school and my dad went in. A few minutes later he returned with Rebekah. He apparently hadn’t told her because she wasn’t crying.

He opened her car door and she sat down on the back seat. He told her exactly what he told me, and she broke down. My mom was her best friend. Rebekah has ADHD and cannot make friends easily.

“But she was so healthy.” Rebekah said through her tears.

“No she wasn’t sweet heart.” My dad said as he climbed back into the drivers seat.

We started to leave the parking lot when my dad’s phone rang.

“Hello?” He answered. He talked on the phone for a few minutes before he continued driving. “Okay. I didn’t want to bring them any way. Thanks Diane. Bye.” He was talking to my Aunt Diane, his sister.

“What did she say?” I asked him.

“She says Gashes just came. I don’t want you girls to see her being taken out of the house. That’s not how you want to remember her, right?” He asked. Rebekah and I both shook our heads.

“So then what are we going to do?” I asked.

“Just drive around the block.” My dad said.

We drove around our neighborhood for at least twenty minutes. Until my dad’s phone rang again. My Aunt Diane told us we could come home now.

I remember driving down our street and seeing the hearse right in front of us, driving away.

This was the day my life turned upside down. This was the day my mother died.