On a cloudy, rainy, and cold day, everything was going great at school. Everything seemed perfect until I entered my sixth period class. Everyone was happy and laughing while at that moment I received a text message from my older sister. It turned my whole day around, I had many thoughts racing through my head and I could not believe the news I received. I tried to stay focused, but as much as I tried, I could not. I kept looking at the clock waiting for school to be out but nervous at the same time. I hear the bell ring as I think to myself what am I going to expect. As I start walking to my car I feel my whole body shake and not able to stay still. I arrive at the building, as I walk through the door I see many people with tears running down their face. When I walked in to the next room I see the place where life takes its turns as sudden flash backs come to my mind, then I see the present, and it fills up my eyes with tears. I think to myself, 'I can hardly believe this day has come, I have feared this day my whole life.'

I slowly walked in further as my sister and dad turn around and see my brother and I walk in. I could feel the sadness in the room. As I looked around me through the glass walls, I saw many people feeling the same way'it was at the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital. As the doctor comes in through the door, he explains to us that my grandma had a stroke. I looked at my grandma and her face was pale, her mouth was open, and her breathing was strong. I asked her if she was okay but I only got a random response. She had lost her memory and was paralyzed from one whole half of her body. The doctor said, 'We are going to do an MRI to see what the stroke damaged and go from there.'

As it got late, the visiting hours were over so we had to go home. When I got to my house, everything was dark and quiet and no one was home. The house felt empty without my grandma there. I couldn't sleep that night with many things going through my head, thoughts about what's going to happen, is my family going to stay together, how am I going to stay focused in school, and what is the house going to feel like with just my brother and I there now?' The next morning we woke up early, it was raining outside when we left. While my brother and I were soon getting there, my mom calls me. I think to myself, 'What is the news going to be?' I pick up the phone and my mom says, 'Your grandma is not going to be with us much longer, so you guys have to hug your dad and tell your grandma you lover her,' when I heard those words my heart just sank. I tried to keep back the tears but I could not. As we walked in the hospital, my whole family was there. I was surprised because I always thought when this day came we were going to be alone at the hospital without anyone there for support. All you could hear was crying and 'everything will be okay.' As I walked over to my sister she told me that the doctor informed them my grandma has three days to see if she will make it or not but the chances are very low and most likely she will pass away on the 3rd day.

The long 2 days went by of being at the hospital all day, but on the 2nd night leading to the 3rd day my dad couldn't make it staying overnight at the hospital one more night. My sister said, 'I will stay the night here,' I thought to my self, 'What are we going to do if my grandma passes away and we are there watching her, since it was going to be the third day?' Then I said to myself I am not going to school tomorrow so I will stay here and overcome whatever happens. The long night at the hospital was difficult; I did not sleep just watching my grandma. It was silent in there but all you could hear was the heart monitor and the oxygen. We made it through the whole night, but now we just had to wait.

At 2 p.m. that day, the doctors call my dad and sister in to give them some news. As I sit there, waiting anxiously in the waiting room my sister comes in. She gives me a hug and tells me our grandma is going to make it, she is being transferred to another room out of the ICU. That was the best news we could have ever received in our life.

Watching someone you are very close to almost at the point of dying was the hardest thing to watch. It made me realize that life could be taken away in as little as one second. That emotions should be shown and feelings should be said because sometimes it is too late. This hard moment made me a strong person, both mentally and physically. I learned that in life, you should expect the unexpected and be ready for anything to come, and with hope and courage, you could get through any hard time.