After that summer I went back to my dad’s in Indiana. My junior year was different. That fall and winter, I was in a specialized program for students that could take college classes and still pass high school. I had also lost a friend. He was killed in a car accident. I had also gained new friends. I started my first job. I got my first girlfriend. My mother came into town for a weekend to spend with me. Around my birthday I became homecoming prince and went to the winter dance. But that evening my mother received terrible news. My grandpa has cancer.

In year of 2017, I lost my grandpa to cancer. The summer of 2016 I will never forget. The hot weather of the Carolinas stung the back of my neck everyday I stepped outside. The cool breezes never seemed to last long. Just like summer, short and sweet and like our own human lives. On most days, I played video games and went to the YMCA.

During those times, I would go to the back patio of my mother’s apartment and help my grandpa with the small vegetable garden we had. The cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, and other various vegetable we had grew exponentially without any preservatives. My grandfather and I had some special moments on that patio. He told me stories that sounded impossible that happened back in the day. He gave me life lessons that I would never forget.

I had my permit and was only able to drive with some over the age of 21. To grow and hone on my driving skills, I helped drive my sister to her job. My grandpa would be there to oversee that we stayed alive while I drove. I remember making a left-hand turn. It was a double lane left turn. My grandpa saved our lives from a terrible accident that day. He has saved my life many times before and in the future. His words live on and I can hear them ringing in my head.

After that summer I went back to my dad’s in Indiana. My junior year was different. That fall and winter, I was in a specialized program for students that could take college classes and still pass high school. I had also lost a friend. He was killed in a car accident. I had also gained new friends. I started my first job. I got my first girlfriend. My mother came into town for a weekend to spend with me. Around my birthday I became homecoming prince and went to the winter dance. But that evening my mother received terrible news. My grandpa has cancer.

My mother went back to the Carolinas. She told me everything was gonna be fine. She didn’t want me to worry about it for school was still in session. The school year was almost done, that meant spring break was the last vacation we had. Me and my sister flew earlier than expected into the Carolinas to see how grandpa was doing. Only to find out that he was on life support. He wasn’t gonna make it.

During the time we received the bad news till that day, my grandpa never took any treatment for the cancer. He said he’s gonna fight it without the chemo. Saturday, April 1st, around 3:00 my grandpa passed away. A week before his death he was doing fine. He was very optimistic and a jokester than doctors said. Things got worse as the days till spring break  were in the single digits. In order for me and sister to see him before he died, my mother spent extra money for an earlier flight to the Carolinas.

I will never forget his last breath. I took a picture of him before he died. After spring break my life seemed different. During school I did my best to suppress my tears and sadness. I soon remembered something he said, nobody likes someone who always cries and is sad.