Sophomore year of high school I remember being interesting, dealing with classes and the growing concern for my grandfather outside of school. Earlier in the year, I remember on my dad’s side of the family having concerns for my grandfather as he had been going through chemotherapy to try and counter growing cancer he had within him. Although him being a fighter and everyone knowing the risk and all the work my family had to go through was one of the hardest years for me to deal with let alone my family who had been caring for him every day. I could never tell what was hurting him worse the therapy or the cancer itself, but every time I heard about his condition it seemed to be a battle for everyone who was there with him trying to help.
Over time seeing him every once in a while since I could not always be there with my family to see him in Chicago, although any time I was able to go out there to see him I would noticeably and visibly see that he has lost some weight, he started at a little over 180 and standing at just under 5 feet 8 inches and I watched him slowly lose weight to 170 then 155 and then eventually over the course of no less than 7 months I watched him lose more weight to a point where he was weightless than me and I was noticeably almost half a foot taller than him if not more, I remember meeting him for Christmas, he was laying in a bed my father had moved downstairs because he could no longer move by himself anywhere he went my grandfather needed something to help him, to eat, change, shower and he even needed help from someone or maybe two people just to take a shit, I could see the man he once was and his dignity was gone for not being able to handle life’s daily hurdles.
After having to deal with finals and stressing over class it was a relief, to say the least, that school was finally out and that all my classes were passed I had not a care in the world, felt as if nothing would be able to affect my mood and how happy I felt at the time. Winter break was finally here and all I worried about was how much money I had to spend and what my plans were for this coming holiday break.
To say I didn’t have a care in the world at the time would be an understatement and my friend Micheal had told me before that there was a little get together arranged at a friend’s house we both knew and he asked if I would like to tag along with him. I never thought anything of it and figured what’s a better way to spend my time and especially a new year’s eve with a friend and a house full of people there to have fun. Getting there was especially easy, thankfully my friend’s mom let him take the car for the night, upon getting to the house we walked in and I saw a few people I had seen around school me being me, I looked around for anything to drink and despite there being alcohol I remember I didn’t even want to come close to it because I saw the brand of sparkling grape champagne and whatever other boujie drink they had I was not interested in it and decided it would be best to stick to one of the many two liters on the counter in the kitchen. That lasted not long before Micheal told me to take a sip of what he was drinking and me trusting him and knowing he probably wanted to see the reaction I would have I decided to take a sip the drink and to no surprise it was the poor quality alcohol I had mentioned before.
Although we had fun and we hung around for a few hours and the new year started, I remember it was around 2 am and at the time we decided it’s time to bounce since someone decided to knock over a lamp and it shattered, oddly enough it was only maybe a foot off the ground so I was surprised to see it break. Finally getting home my mother asked “how was the party?” and I replied “it was good” and looking back I should have known because my brother and mom were spending time together, watching a movie downstairs, usually you can find my brother in his room playing any given game at any time minding his own business. But me being me, I went upstairs to my room and decided to hit the hay and call it a night.
Waking up the following morning I hopped in the shower and finished brushing my teeth, then walking into the kitchen to find my mother waiting for me asking how I was, knowing she had something to tell me I asked “what?” she replied with “your grandfather has passed away last night” and knowing it was coming but would have never figured it was going to be the day after new years caught me by surprise. After that, I don’t remember much of the conversation or how the rest of that day after that I think because it didn’t have much significance. The memory is so rich and well-remembered to the point it felt like not long ago event thought before I knew it had have realized due to the assignment that it’s coming fast up on a year since which has blown me away at how fast time has gone by.