It was on November twenty ninth, nearly three years ago that this terrible event took place. It was around one o’clock in the morning. I was in my bed sleeping when all of a sudden I woke to the scream of my mom and saw fire fighters running up the stairs. My mom was leading them into her bedroom. I was so confused and scared. Once they were in the bedroom they shut the door. My mom came and sat on my bed with me. She was crying and wouldn’t tell me what was going on. Then a lady came in and started to ask my mom a bunch of questions about my dad. Finally my mom stopped crying long enough to tell me what happened. She told me that my dad had gone out with some friends and came home late, as he was walking, he feel on the floor. My mom thought he was joking pretending to have fallen asleep but when he didn’t get up she said she was going to call 911. When he still didn’t rise she did call and that’s why the fire fighters were here. Then someone came and told us that they were taking my dad to the hospital. I went down to the basement to get clothes so we could go to the hospital to. After we had all changed we had to wait downstairs. The fire department minister and his wife prayed with us. Then one of our neighbors came over and offered to drive us to the hospital because he was sleeping over. My mom had called my brother and his friend’s dad drove him to the hospital. When we got to the hospital we just sat in a dark room with lots of pillows and tissues. We were all crying and praying. I thought I was going to be sick from all the crying I was doing. I don’t know how long we waited but it seemed like an eternity. Eventually a doctor came in. He had a grim look on his face. We all looked at him with hopeful eyes. Then he bowed his head and told us that my dad had left us. My mom screamed and started to cry even harder it took me a while to figure what had just happened but when I did; I started to cry harder than I ever had. We just sat there and cried for a while and then my mom told us it was time to go home. We went in to see my dad for the last time. My mom and brother kissed him on the forehead but I ran out because I couldn’t bear to look. Then my neighbor brought us home. My brother, mom, and I just sat on the couch in our family room because we didn’t want to be alone. We just sat there and cried until we all fell asleep. I woke up about an hour later screaming and telling my mom about a horrible dream I had where daddy had died. She just looked at me and told me “it’s no dream Dana now go back to sleep. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.” My mom was right the next day my mom had to make a lot of phone calls telling first my Grandfather then others what had happened. I didn’t go to school.

There were a lot of deliveries, of flowers, teddy bears, food, and muffins. We got a lot of muffins. My mom made all of the arrangements for the funeral. It was held a few days later on December second. All of my relatives came. It was a Jewish service because my dad was Jewish and even though my mom is Christian, my Grandfather wanted to have a Jewish service, so we did. My mom rented a limo. It had a lot of food and stuff in it. After that I missed school for almost a week. My dad’s sister and I went shopping a lot. Each person in my class made me a card. My guidance counselor even gave me a teddy bear which I still have today. At the weeks end, all of my relatives left. My mom went back to work and my brother and I went back to school. Everyone at school felt bad for me. They all wanted to know how I could laugh and be happy when my dad had just died. I told them that I was sad that he was gone but I still have to live life, so I might as well enjoy it. I still miss my dad today but I have dealt with the loss and have moved on in life.