Descriptive Essay : The Defining Days

At a young age, around 8, my grandfather died. The majority of the family including myself took our times to mourn and then continued to build our lives. My mother, however, did not, she was broken. At the time, I remember being alone. I remember cooking for myself.

My maternal aunt gathered us together and we all sat on the couch. She turned to my mother and told us she had cancer. I looked at my aunt and I did not know what to say or how to respond. Three months later, my father received a phone call from his sister telling him that my pregnant cousin, Elizabeth, was diagnosed with leukemia and had to give birth to her premature baby. She and I grew up in the same house in Arizona and what hurt me the most was not being able to be with her during this difficult time. When we went to visit her in Arizona, my dad told us before entering the hospital room that he did not want us to cry in front of her. I was scared to enter. I did not know what to say to her but I knew I had to be strong. We stayed there for the holiday season but we never celebrated the holidays, that was too

When I was between the ages of ten and twenty-seven, my mother managed to treat her cancer diagnosis as one of life's unique teaching

When my dad came home that evening he sat me down and asked me if I knew what cancer was. I had an idea so I just nodded my head, he went on to tried to explain to me how bad the cancer was that my mom had been diagnosed with. Seeing my dad so afraid scared me. The fear I felt then led me to realize that I needed to try and hide it because it would only hurt my dad more to see his children so upset. I did my best to help, I tucked my little sisters into bed while my mom was away at the hospital, read them stories and did the best I could at preparing snacks to comfort them. After my mom arrived home and she recovered from the surgery she started chemotherapy. The miserable treatment that attacks the cancer also makes her very ill. Every other week she was sick. Before every bad week I wanted to cry, but that wouldn’t help anyone. Lane and Kenna already were crying, if I cried it could only hurt my parents

Those years were difficult on all of us, especially when I was older and just starting to understand all the medical operations that were happening. Since those years have past, I have grown into the person I am today: no life is about living to one's fullest potential. I thank cancer for making me stop and listen and remember what is truly important in life. Whatever the case may be, it’s clear what my purpose is meant to be in this world. All I want in life is to give back to society, working with babies and children in the medical field. The doctors and the nurses who showed remarkable help to care for my sister and to them I will forever remain indebted. As a result of that, I have found a love for caring for the little kids that are fighting for their lives against the evil cancerous

Traveling is one of my family’s favorite things to do. The family has visited numerous places throughout the United States, however, none are as memorable as Atlanta, Georgia. In Atlanta, there are many places to go and sights to see such as: Cola-cola factory, Cabbage Patch Kids Factory, Under Ground Mall, the Zoo, Atlanta Braves Stadium, Six Flags Over Georgia, Stone Mountain Park, and the Atlanta Aquarium, are all in or near the city of Atlanta. The three that we visit on every trip to Atlanta are Six Flags, Stone Mountain, and the Atlanta Aquarium.

I can’t exactly say I remember it like it was yesterday. The only reason I won’t say that is because I can’t remember how I felt, if I felt anything at all. What I can say, is that I remember exactly how everyone around me felt. I’m not sure if it was the sufferance that made me numb, or if my brain is simply blocking out the immense sadness I must’ve felt at the time. Either way, it all started the beginning of April in 2012. When my mother first told me that we were going to drive to Canada because of a family emergency, I’m sure I must’ve felt shocked at the news; my mom usually hates when I miss school, especially that late into the year, but I obliged. I didn’t have a choice really, so my mom sat me down to tell me what exactly the family emergency was. Turns out my aunt Cristy had cancer, stomach cancer. I looked it up later that day, still slightly confused, as stomach cancer is rare. I slowly began to understand things, whatever it might mean to understand cancer anyway. My aunt had a very rare stomach cancer. We were driving 16 hours to Canada to see my cancerous aunt.

My dad had to pick up more hours at work to be able to pay for all the gas for all the miles of travel we had to do for doctor’s appointments. On top off that, he sometimes had to take off work just to take her to certain ones in case they didn’t have afternoon appointments. As months and months of consultations went by, I saw the light in my mom’s eyes getting duller. Although there was one day I remember seeing the blue in her eyes glowing again. It was early October, and I accomplished something I never tried to before. I didn’t particularly like baking and never tried to make a cake in my life. Ultimately, I overcame the challenge and made my mom a cake for her birthday. As I watched her eyes stumble upon the cake, I saw her face light up and tears start rolling down her cheeks. That was one of the last good moments I had with her and I’m glad it was her birthday, despite the fact that it was her last one alive. Later on that month, I witnessed my mother struggling to write me a note for school. “I can’t feel my hands or fingers” she exclaimed. My heart sank into my chest as it felt like I was just hit with a cinderblock. I

The storm I witnessed was Hurricane Sandy. When I first heard of the hurricane I thought it wouldn't be as bad as some people were prediciting, but as the storm approached I certainly changed my mind. As we sat in the house it became very real how bad the storm was going to be. It was scary to hear the wind howling; blowing the trees around, hearing branches falling and the windows rattling. Hurricane Sandy left a lot of desvesation and distruction not only in New Jersey but in the Tri- State and surrounding areas. the storm left many

After multiple emergency room visits with her and my dad, she was admitted just days after our car ride. By this point, my beautiful, rosy haired, blue eyed grandmother had such unbearable pain in and around her abdomen, that it was hard to look at her without feeling the pain she was feeling. Despite the excrucaiting pain of the bladder cancer was slowly making her weaker and weaker, she pushed on. My grandmother was the toughest person I knew and there had been numerous events where she continued to show me and my entire family just how strong she was. Although she was the strongest person I have ever known, she was very fragil and ended up having to come stay with my family and I on hospice care. And throughout my journey with her living with us, I realized just how much we need to cherish every moment with the people that we love. From the days counting down towards her death, I felt as if I had never had done enough with her and that I would do anything to be

There was little to be said about a small town like New Hope. People didn't come to see their attractions, didn't come to even drop by to say hello. Hell, a lot of people that inhabited the rich lands of the town believed they were alone in the world. Forgotten. Leaving them to their ways of life without being disturbed by the bustling and hustling, stress filled ones of the city. Forgotten maybe, but that's how a lot of people wanted it.

Painting the warm tangerine Indian sky, the sun retreats for the day. A swirling mist envelopes the cacophony of the city, ushers in a soothing touch to a highly humid atmosphere. The zephyrs simultaneously clear the bituminous asphalt by stealing away decayed leaves and wilted petals. They whirl around, lingering as if caught in a vicious catfight, to finally disappear into the vast unknown. The silhouette of the sinking sun descends faultlessly into the almost placid lake, its waters stirred only by the symmetrical synchronization of paddling ducks.

I look out the small oval window as my carriage makes it way along the ruff, jerky and jarring dirt road. The darkness makes the tree branches look as if they are reaching out towards me, causing me a slight feeling of unease. The rain bashing hard against the window reminds me of the night it all happened. As my carriage travels over a large bump I am jolted in my seat, startling me as my mind had drifted to memories of that dreadful night. I try to look away from the window and think of something else when a loud crack of thunder alarms me. More memories from that night. I look down to my hands in my lap and realise that I have been nervously moving them together subconsciously, ‘a nervous habit I need to stop’ I think to myself. I wonder how far away I am from the destination? I again look out the window and notice how dark the night looks, caused by the dark storm clouds and gigantic trees that loom overhead.

It felt nice, the fresh breeze of air as I jogged down a desolate park during the night time. It wasn’t a good day, so it felt nice to have the moon in full view over me as I vented my frustrations in each step I took. Suddenly, I heard crying. I took an earbud out, no longer hearing Taylor Swift, and the crying was louder than ever. Bewildered, I looked around for a moment as I suddenly noticed a few feet away on a bench, a girl was crying. I squinted for a bit, trying to see her clearly in the darkness. Immediately, I noticed she was young. I saw she was rather skinny, somewhat tall thought that could be deceiving as she was sitting down, and was wearing a crop top that showed off her belly and displayed a low V-neck with shorts that clearly showed off her features. She had on stockings, and I could see her shoes were next to her, 3 inch heels that looked clearly painful as she was massaging her feet for the moment on the bench, tears streaming down her face as she was looking down. I approached for a moment, “Hey.”. She jumped, startled by the apparent hello, and looked up to find me approaching her, as I quickly held up my hands, to show I meant no harm. There was an awkward silence for a moment, as we stared at each other for a moment, as I’d calmly take one step after another towards the bench, my mind racing and my heart aching as I felt I needed to confirm my worst thoughts. I was finally able to sit next to her, I didn’t look at her yet though, as she was still

First days are usually the best and sometimes the scariest, in some cases they turn out to be the worst of days of a person’s life. On our first days of doing something, we all have expectations; everyone expects to have the best experience on his/her first day, but these expectations sometimes end up to be the opposite of what we expected. Sometimes they turn out to be a mixture of both the best moments and the worst. Similarly, I have a first day that I think will forever be in my mind; that is my first at the zoo.