Slam!” The car door shuts and somehow you get that thought of “Man I really don’t wanna be here.”

For past few weeks my grandma Flo has been battling colon cancer, and the sad part is, we all know its not a winning battle.

”Dad I really hate this place.” I would say that every time we pulled into to the quiet lot at Hospice.

If you don’t already know, Hospice is not a “Cool” place, its not like a hospital where they actually treat you. No Hospice is more of the metaphor

“Deathbed.”

On the outside Hospice its beautiful, with bright get your attention flowers blooming, and the American flag blowing in the wind. But once you get passed that and into the big dark brown wooden doors, its gray and gloomy. If you could picture sitting in a scary gray funeral parlor, Ding Ding Ding you have Hospice!


As we check in, my dad and I began walking down a bone chilling creepy hallway. The light blue corridor with brown carpet,and the smell of a dentist office, seemed to be everywhere. I peeked into all the rooms looking at the helpless people just waiting for the angels to take them to heaven, you get that big lump in your the throat, you know, the one that you cant breath because if you do the tears will start running down like the mississippi, that one. As we finally get to the room that says Florence Hartuniewicz. We take a hard left into the oversized room. I began to look around, To the right theres a medical style bathroom with the white laminate floors and yes more of those boring gray colors. All the sudden I hear my dad yell

“Yooo” I laughed, personally I thought it was a pretty awesome entrance,

and it got my grandma to laugh to which is always good to see, especially at a time like this. One reason I love my family so much is that even at times like these, you know the hard, sad times we always throw in a little humor, I mean you have to right? My dad has visited my great grandma since he could walk, Going over to her house to eat sunday dinner which was an annual occurrence for my family. We were all really close and she was like the rock that held us all together.

We go to sit down on the comfy brown chairs that were placed 2 feet from her bed, It felt good being so close to grandma, really good! My grandma was a huge Detroit Tigers fan and she loved to talk about them, especially with me and my dad. As my dad and her began to talk about the tigers, I looked at the artwork that my little cousins have drew for her. Theres one particular piece that was really stood out, it was a big pink and purple race car the the letters on top saying “The flow mobile! “get well fast!” It was really amazing and you could tell grandma liked it because it was right smack dab in the center of the big wooden pin board! When i start engaging in the conversation again i heard my grandma say...
“Those dang tigers!”
“They need to trade Valverde!” With her low growl that she only gets when talking about him.
Which lately us Tigers fans have been saying way too much!
“Well how did they do last night?” she asked with her smooth faint voice.
“Dad let me see your phone!” My dad has just bought the Iphone 4s and this model has “Siri” which will give us the latest sports scores with the push of a button!
“Ah hold on.” My dad said struggling to get it out of his pocket because of its huge black Otter box case.
Finally my personal sportscaster was in the palm of my hand! I walked up to grandma so she could hear and see what the robot woman would say,
I press the button, “Siri?” “How did the Tigers do against the Royals last night?”
with a pause we hear “Beep Beep” as it records my question it gives us the answer we were all hoping for,
“The Detroit Tigers barely slipped by the Kansas City Royals 3-2!” I looked at grandma smiling “Well hey they can win one!” I said with a sarcastic voice.
I think my grandma was still amazed by the phone being able to do such a thing!
“They still need to trade Valverde!” She said in a low toned voice, with a big smile only a true grandma can bring!

As my grandma and my dad started talking about family “ I really don’t know half the people in my gigantic Polish family” I walked over to the big brown couch with one of grandmas big homemade afghans, I laid down. ( An afghan is a big knitted blanket, in this case it was orange white and black) while I closed my eyes, I began to think about what grandma has done for me personally. Her and I were close, she babysat me for years, making me the one thing I wanted every time I came over, Cinnamon toast! Every grandma has her own baking secret, and this was just one of the many! I couldn't picture her being gone, it was just way too hard. And with a tear in my eye I fell asleep. “Knock Knock” “Lunch is here!” I heard coming from the doorway.

I perked up and looked to see what “Lunch” was at this desolate place. Well to my amazement it actually looked good! Chicken broth, white smooth vanilla ice cream, and a soft chocolate chip cookie. “Jeez! They feed ya good here!” My dad said with astonishment. We took the food from the nurse with white soft skin and a warm smile which was delightful to see, and sat it on my grandma's lap. “Well we should get going, let's let her eat” We stood up “love you grandma!” I said with a crack of sadness in my voice.
“love you too” she said waving.

Slam! the car door shuts and you get the thought of “ Man I really hate leaving here.”


Words with the author


My grandma was a great lady, hardworking woman, and an awesome grandma. She ended up passing away three days after this moment, it was the last time I was able to talk to her. But I truly believe she is sitting by me at this very moment helping me type this paper, and she will always be with me with whatever life has in store. My grandma was a strict Catholic, Church every day even if it meant watching it on TV. She truly set an example for my whole family in every way. I know that you will never have the connection with my grandma as I did, but I hope this story can give you a little taste of what a great person she was.