As a young girl I spent much of my time thinking about how I was going to live my life in what seemed a perfect scenario. My thoughts when I was young seemed very naïve looking back at them now. I spent my young years thinking that I was always going to be happy and that my life would be extremely easy. Little did I know that my thoughts on good grades, great friendships, and just that “amazing life” would only be realistic in my mind. As I’m about to become a young adult I have realized that who I am today was not shaped by occurring events I experienced over my years of life. Some people, like me, are shaped by special unique people who leave a beautiful scar in our lives, rather than events.
I have never had a perfect life since the beginning of my birth. I was too young to realize that when I was born my parents were on the verge of getting a divorce. This did not affect me, as I was too young to comprehend what was happening around me. Through the process of their separation my parents had a son, my younger brother Brian. Only until my brother was born did my parents officially separate. Brian and I were too young to even notice what was happening around us. My mom remarried and my brother and I grew like normal kids. We accepted our step dad with no hesitation because he took care of our mother and us. Even though we had a step dad we still kept in touch with our biological father. My life from elementary to my mid-middle school years seemed easy. I was put in the ESL program, which is English as a Second language, which helps students who speak foreign languages get familiar with English and learn to speak it, and write it adequately. I was quickly removed because the instructors believed I knew the language well enough already. Elementary school was so easy for me, I paid much attention which resulted in great satisfactory grades, and I had many friends. It was during that time that I thought the rest of my life would be what seemed “perfect.”  Middle school was the same up until the eighth grade.
During my elementary-middle school years my life at home was peaceful and I attended church regularly. At church there was a boy my age named Denis who was the reason for all smiles. We didn’t go to the same schools, but every weekend we’d see each other at church. Denis was very friendly and charismatic and we were both raised with similar morals, give good and you’ll get good back…right. Afterwards his parents split up and his family stopped attending church. My eight grade year during my 14h year was full of amazing experiences and visits to other states. As a school grade we visited Colonial Virginia and Washington D.C. My was at ease and it seemed like it could only get better until I was proven wrong later on in the year. On November 26th, 2011 I was scrolling down my Facebook newsfeed and saw a post published by one of my best friends that read, “RIP Denis <3.” The name was linked to the person’s Facebook profile. When I saw the picture I was in shock staring at my laptop. I couldn’t think at all, it seemed like for a moment I had lost all conscious. My mom was sitting behind me and asked me if everything was okay. I couldn’t speak, I was only fourteen and I couldn’t speak because I was in state of shock that prevented me from doing so. I look back at that moment and think, how could I have been in state of shock when I was only fourteen.
I quickly regained my thoughts and told my mom about what I had just seen. Sweet, charismatic, fourteen year old Denis was no longer breathing. He was no longer alive due to being run over and dragged by a vehicle. At the time I could not accept that this wonderful person who had taught many of us kids at church to smile no matter what. Denis was always so full of energy, he was never mad. Denis was a positive person always. He would, however, always say that life was not going to be perfect, that we couldn’t try to stop fate because no matter how hard we tried to avoid bad things to happen they would find their way. All those words came back to me as I sat down in my bed and cried like I’d never before. My mom quickly found out when his viewing and funeral would take place. It was the night of his viewing seeing him in his casket, unable to move, with no sign of life remaining in his body that I realized we should take life the way it is, but not take life for granted. I cried and cried, and it seemed like I couldn’t stop. I took one look at Denis from afar while his mom’s yells surrounded the background and I walked out. That was the last time I saw one of my childhood friends. Today I am a happy human who is sad at times, yes, but accepts what happens in her life. I call myself Karla because my name is Karla. Karla is who I am. People call me Karla, Karlaye, Karlizzle, Kar Kar and many other names that they have given me because they have become well familiar with me. Being called by others “cute” names I hope to have gained their friendship and trust. Being called nothing at all by someone I know I have lost a friend. When my name is forgotten, misspelled, or mispronounced, my name becomes an example of why Hazel Grace from John Green’s The Fault in our Stars was right about Oblivion being inevitable. We should be worried about living our lives today rather than worrying about doing things to be remembered by.
Being able to grow alongside Denis was such an honor to me. I’m so glad I met such a beautiful person inside and out. I look back at the events at my life and realize that they taught me things that help me now, but it was nothing to what Denis taught me. Denis taught me that there was no perfect picture, only a canvas in which we have a limited amount of paint that only we know how we will use it to create a beautiful portrait of ourselves. It only took Denis to shape me into the person I am today and I am filled with gratitude towards him.