January 12th 2010 was a scary day for all. I remember coming home from cheerleading, walking into my house and sensing a different vibe. I had no idea what was going on, I felt like a kindergartener not knowing a senior math problem. My mom was sitting in our family room watching the news, and on the news it said there was an earthquake in Haiti. Immediately my mom called my aunt but she didn’t answer.
My cousin left for Haiti a week earlier for a mission trip. He went with eight other students and four other teachers. The only way to contact my cousin while he was in Haiti was through email. My aunt didn’t hear any information about anyone until seven days later. Those seven days felt like the longest days ever. I had no idea what was going on. I wasn’t sure if my cousin was in a different part of Haiti then where the earthquake happened. I didn’t feel the need to tell anyone because I wasn’t sure if it was a big deal or not. On the school website they posted any information they found out to inform the families. The day after the earthquake there were four names on the website that were already declared dead. We were waiting upon waiting to hear any information about my cousin. Him and one other person were the only names that had no information about them. All we could think was he’s dead and his body went missing.
My aunt got a call from an unknown number and it just so happened to be my cousin. My aunt was in shock that she could hear his voice she was in disbelief. It was a happy moment for all to know that he was okay. It just so happened that he was on the balcony of his hotel having a cigarette when the earthquake happened. His hotel began to crumble without hesitating he jumped off the balcony, which was two stories high to prevent the whole hotel collapsing on top of him. He jumped over cracks to get to safe ground. The way he described it couldn’t compare to what actually happened. I can’t imagine being in that situation.
When my mom got the call from my aunt we were all so happy. I remember I was sitting in the kitchen eating my favorite cereal peanut butter crunch when the phone rang. My little brother answered it and gave it to my mom. My mom was on the phone with my aunt for a god 30 min. When she hung up all she said was “Everything is okay, He’s safe and alive.” I felt like I could finally breathe again. I couldn’t imagine another family gets together without him.
Not even a year later my cousin is back in Haiti helping out. I pray for him everyday that everything will be okay. He’s such a strong person and inspiration to all. He lost a good friend that day that was working out in the workout room while it happened. He goes back to hope to make Haiti the way it used to be.