On Death and Dying

12th Grade 2016

A few years ago, one of the many sisters of my father passed away from a

terminal cancer that was unkown to me. She spent about 6 months without

knowing of her condition. Her entire family knew about her sickness only

because her doctor was one of our cousins. We grieve while she knew of nothing

and we allowed her to live the last months of her life thinking she was fine and

would live on to get older. I denied her sickeness being real at first because I

didnt think thatsomeone so humble and honest could leave the Earth so early.

Everytime my father and I talked about her, I burst into tears and trembled

because I couldnt accept what was soon to come. I could no longer talk to her

on the phone or videochat due to my inability to hide the information we were

hiding from her and my inability to hide my sorrow from someone whom I loved

very much.

Chapter 4: Anger

When I was about the age of 8, I lost my paternal grandfather. He was 91 years

old and died one day after my first time videochatting with him. My grandfather

died in his sleep due to natural causes and he died happily because he got to

pass on the legacy of humility to each and every one of his children. When I first

found out about the death of my grandfather, I was confused because it was the

first time I had ever had a loss. Soon set in the anger I didnt fully understand as

well. I was angry because I had never truly met my grandfather as I had only

visited him as an infant and had no memory of him except for the one of the night
before. I was angry that I had to see the sickly man, wearing oxygen mask, on a

laptop screen instead of being able to hold his hand and pray for him to live a it

longer. I was mostly angered by my inability too understand diseases and how to

care for those who had possibilites to live longer.

Chapter 5: Bargaining

Bargaining is one the chapters I feel I can relate to the most. I have been

bargaining with God for about 10 years now because I have an aunt(by marriage)

who has Diabetes type 2. She as been battling her disease for most of her life.

She went almost completely blind in one eye and can barely se through her other

eye. She has thin veins and has very bad circulation in her legs. I have prayed

for a long time to see her better because everytime she visits us during her

vacation, she is looking a little bit worse. This year she was supposed to come

visit us but she got really sick and has been spending more time in and out of

hospitals.

Chapter 6: Depression

I had a nice amount of depression during the time after my dog died in 2013. She

was the only being that kept me company when I was lonely. For a long time I

didnt have anyone to play with talk to besides my dog because I had a single

father who worked hard to keep me as happy as I could be. My dog shared a lot

of struggle with me and I tried my best to show her I appreciated her dedication

to being the joy in my life. The way she died will always make me feel guilty and I

dont think I will ever trust myself with a responsibility that I am not willing to do. I
pray that her spirit is happy in Dog Heaven and that she has as many peanut

butter treats as possible.

Chapter 7:Acceptance

The same year my aunt died of cancer, my paternal grandmother, my aunt and

fathers mother, died of a stroke. She was 84 year old and had been sick for

years. She had gone through a few surgeries throughout her life because with

age she became much weaker. She used a walker because she had broken her

hip years before and she had very poor eyesight. When she had a stroke, my

grandmother was given three days to live. During the first two days, everyone

attended church and prayed to give her strength and the ability to move again.

She seeme to be able to understand everything going on around her even

though she was paralyzed throughout most of her body and couldnt speak. The

memory I will forever hold is what my father told me about his time talking to her

during her last two days. He said that my aunts put the phone to his mothers ear

while he spoke to her saying mom please try to be strong, I have faith in you.

My aunts claimed that my grandmother moved her lips as though trying mouth

words and that you could hear a tiny vocal sound coming from her. They said that

tears fell down her face as she tried to speak to my dad. The day after she

passed away just as the doctors had predicted. I was the first to know because

my father was in church praying and I had stayed home. I then spent the next

few moths mourning her death because I felt I had a deep connection with her.

She was the first Luisa in my family and I am told that I resemble her personaity

wise. I think that I am still mouring the loss of the matriarch of my family because
I spend a lot of time wondering what kind of special friendship I couldve had with

her.

How to Not Drive Yourself Crazy

Does the afterlife exist and what does it consist of? The most fearful topic

to talk about for most people is death. People think about death everyday while

they risk their lives through daily tasks such as biking on the street or walking to

school. They think about if they will make it to their destination with something

awful and near death happening to them. Human beings have the natural ability

to be paranoid constantly about how their death will happen.

Many persons believe that doing risky and dangerous stunts result in

deadly outcomes and they decided to avoid these activities. Most parents dont

allow their children to ride dirt bikes or an ATV because children can fly off the

bike and hurt themselves. Many of these parents fail to realize that there are

many more dangerous things than letting your child ride a mtorebike because

they believe that most barriers keep children safe. Being very protective doesnt

always mske children fearful of most dangers but it does implant in the childs

brain the idea that you can get severely and fatally hurt by doing almost anything.

Fear and protection lead to horrible thoughts on death such as falling off a

building and it doesnt provide reassurance for the person unless they decide to

believe in their own power.

Being sick are you because not everyone has the ability to diagnose

themselves properly and your pain from being ill can be quite worrying. People
who get the flu are usually afraid that theyll get worse easily and avoid leaving

the house or not receiving he correct antibiotics for the virus that is weakening

them. This causes people to thnk that they are in a worse condition than they

actaully are and then the feeling that if they dont get better soon, they might get

closer to the end of their life. Illness makes people realize that taking care of

themselves is harder than they pictured and they then believe that they will

experience a tough death.

People have the image of death to be this immensley painful and horrible

thing so they think about all fates they will possibly meet. Thinking about how you

will be gone one day stops you from enjoying the life you have in the present.

You limit yourself by fearing the unknown and that is how people usually end up

living sad lives. These people somehow found no way to deal with the fear of

living life as a the big picture and not seeing that there is a lot to see in this

wonderful world.