Alexa Rookwood
May 16, 2012
It was Wednesday May 16, 2012. The time was 2:25 p.m. I just got home from school. I said hi to my dad, and then I headed upstairs to put my school bag down. Quickly, I headed back downstairs to the kitchen to get a snack and go on the computer for about an hour or so.
Time had passed and came to be 4:03 p.m. I remember I turned off the computer and went upstairs to my room and changed out of my school uniform. As I was cleaning my room and taking my homework out of my bag, I remember I had heard my dad’s razor go on (he was shaving). I also remember that almost immediately after, I was able to hear the annoying sound of the door in the office being forced open (Chad and Chelsea arrived home from school). After I heard footsteps stomping up the stairs, my brother came around the corner and said hi to me on the way to his room across the hall. Less than five minutes later, my sister came up the stairs, said hi, and then walked in the opposite direction than my brother to where her room is. I don’t think it was more than about ten minutes later, my dad walked out of the bathroom and got ready for work, then left for work.
More time had passed and the clock displayed 5:00 p.m. I remember my mom was not home yet. I walked into the living room, wondering where she was. She should have been home by then. About thirteen minutes later the phone rang. I remember I picked it up and joined my sister in the living room. “Hello?” I said. “Hi”, it was my mom.
“Where are you?”
“I am at the hospital. Grandma is here because her blood pressure is very high. Her tumor grew and bled out. She can’t see because her tumor is located in the occipital area of her brain and made her lose her eyesight. They just gave her anesthesia to sleep, and are going to perform surgery at around 5:30 p.m.”
“Is she going to be okay?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, when are you coming home?”
“I am coming home when they are finished with the surgery.”
“Oh.”
“Did you guys eat dinner?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, okay. Bye.”
“Bye.”
After hearing about my grandmother, I didn’t know what to think. I just felt like my world stood still and my mind wondered for the rest of the night. I wasn’t worried yet though, because I at this time, I was confident that she was going to be okay. I told my sister where my mom was and what happened to grandma. She had put a puzzled look on her face and as usual, asked a thousand questions. Shortly after, my brother had joined us down in the living room. He heard all the questions my sister was asking, and asked me why mom was at the hospital. I explained it to him and said that grandma would have to go through surgery. He asked me if she was going to be okay, and I simply responded, “I don’t know for sure, but I think she will.”
That night, a lot of thoughts and questions went through my head. “What happens if she never gets her eyesight back, where will she live, What if the surgery is not successful?” Well, it’s pretty obvious that at that time, no one knew the answers to these questions. But, that did not stop me from wondering.
Now that I think about it. Up until hearing the news about my grandmother, I considered it to be just another ordinary Wednesday in May. Now that I think about it, I question how I even remember such detail of what happened before finding out that my grandmother was in the hospital.
On that day, I realized that anything can happen in the blink of an eye. One minute things could be great. Everyone is happy and having fun. Then, next thing you know, things could take a turn for the worst. This is where sayings like “Live your life to the fullest” come into play. So, enjoy the happy times in your life and live the good times to the fullest. One thing I learned from this is that when bad things happen, you just have to try your best to think positive. I learned that I just have to find joy in my life, and live it to the fullest!
My grandmother is doing well now. She received treatment for her tumor. It didn’t go away, but it is very small now and she is taking medication to keep it that way, so it doesn’t grow back. I am proud of my grandma and how she managed to stay positive during this very difficult, scary, and sad situation. She got some, but not all of her eyesight back. She is also allowed to live alone in her apartment (With monitored visits from nurses and the cleaning lady of course.) I am thankful that my grandmother is still alive today, and I hope that in future tough situations, I will be able to be as strong as my grandmother was.