It was getting close to the end for him

Family gathered together, for one last moment

Unknowing when. 

Eventually, we decided to spend the night. 

Realizing that we should be together for longer.

That is what we thought. 

My mom and brother went home to get our things. 

We began to notice he was slowly fading. All of us gathered around him. 

Scared to admit it. 

Noticing that he was about to leave us. 

Then we called, just a call. 

Saying he was going to go. 

I don’t know when.

Just get here we said. 

Scared, he was going to leave us. 

Scared that they weren’t going to be here.

I looked up and noticed everyone staring at him. 

Not one person, without tears.

He was waiting. 

Waiting for my mom and brother to come back. 

A car pulls up, the door opens, and they run up the stairs. 

He wanted to say goodbye to everyone. 

He was waiting for them. 

Waiting for them to be there. 

After a minute, he was gone. 

He just needed to say goodbye.

They called the lady next door. 

She came in a hurry, she cared about him deeply. 

She grabbed a bag. 

We kids had to leave. 

His body just lying there

I didn’t know what to do or think. 

We all sat in a room, tears down every kid's face. 

Some too young to even understand. 

After a long wait, the door opened. 

They were carrying him down the stairs, into a car. 

And that was the last time I saw him that night.

We started calling people to let them know.

Every phone call was turned into tears at the news. 

Every message saying I'm sorry for your loss. 

He was gone, and we all knew. 

Nobody wanted him gone.

Purple bracelets sit on our wrists. 

Proud to be wearing them. 

Some of us, like my dad, never take them off. 

Purple to say he had Pancreatic cancer. 

Smoking is how he got it. 

Smoking affected him. 

Once my parents had their first kid. 

He stopped. 

He stopped for us. 

But smoking all those years. 

Impacted him. 

An effect, that ended his life. 

Caused a pain inside of him. 

Inside of us, to see him go.

He was a fighter. 

The Beast beat him, but he didn’t give up without a fight. 

Beat the beast. 

Is what he always said. 

It is what everyone said. 

He would sing the National Anthem. 

Drive the first lap around the track. 

People signed his car. 

Thousands of signatures, on it.

It would bring joy to his face. 

It would make me smile.

Just to see him smile.

There are things.

Things in life.

That could kill.

Think about what you do. 

Before you do it. 

Smoking affected him, it killed part of him. 

Think about who is going to be in your life later. 

Think about who you are going to leave. 

Past decisions take a toll on your future. 

Past decisions could kill you in the future.

It could hurt you. 

And the people around you. 

Think about your actions before you do things. 

Think about who it would affect. 

Think twice, maybe thousands of times. 

Before you do something, that could wreck your life.