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Wednesday, September 28, 2016

"My Strength" by Rosie B



Love is the strongest force is the world. It binds people together and allows people to grow, but the love we have for one another is nothing compared to the love that God has for us. This is what I have learned despite all the hardships I have endured in my life, the most prominent of which was the death of my cousin Andy.
It was the last week of freshman year, the Sunday before finals when I received this devastating news. I was informed outside of my aunt’s house that my cousin Andy died in a car accident. He was twenty-one years old. I remember feeling numb at first, just holding onto the little piece of strength I had left in me to try not to break into a million pieces.
I know this might sound odd, but for me, being emotional is tough, I almost feel like crying is a sign of weakness, which I know is unhealthy, but I never want people to think I am weak so I hold in every tear until I am forced to crack.
So finals came and went, like a blur that had no importance to me at all, time seemed to stop and the only thing I could hold onto was my friends, family, and most importantly my faith. The following months were filled with ups and downs, during the summer I would wait until everyone was sound asleep in their beds to break down. Cascades of tears and anguish flowed through me but during the day, I was just trying to hold myself together for everyone else.
My family all shared memories about Andy constantly, we still do, but my biggest regret to this day is that the most constant encounters he and I had consisted of the phrase “Andy! Leave me alone!” coming out of my mouth. It wasn’t like we hated each other or anything, but he was constantly trying to be the bully older cousin, who acted tough on the outside, but loved us all so much. He was like a protective older brother who was the only one that could bother us, his baby cousins.
As the months passed, I began to cling to my faith more and more, as I knew that my cycle of crying in solitude was not making me feel better, and as I started my confirmation classes at Sacred Heart, I began to open up more to God.
The most memorable encounter that I have ever had with God occurred around Christmas time, as I again began to feel the void in my family. It happened during Holy hour, as the Life Teen choir was singing, the Eucharist was in front of me and I completely broke down. However, that was the day I finally felt relief, as if God had told me “you are loved” and “everything is going to be okay my child”. I learned that day that God was at my side ready to catch me at my darkest times, I learned that God is always near and he will never abandon me because I felt his presence in my soul and his hand on my heart, I am eternally grateful that I was able to experience this kind of love despite the hardships I had to endure to reach this point.

34 comments:

  1. As a not so religious person, reading your piece made me wish that I had as much faith in God as you. Using past events to tell us about not only your feelings but also your experiences really helped me see how strong of a person you are even if I do not know you as well. Great job Rosie!

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  2. As a religious person myself, I can totally relate with your personal reflection. Last year, my grandfather passed away from a heart attack and I could relate to the part where you said that you were "numb at first, just holding onto the little piece of strength I had left in me to try not to break into a million pieces." The feelings you put into this reflection, not only gave this poem more meaning, but a moment to remember. Since I'm Buddhist, my family and I would go to Temple and prayed every once in awhile to mourn my grandfather's death. Thanks for sharing your personal reflection and stay strong.

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  3. Rosie, I really enjoyed this piece because it let me perceive more about your personality and about faith in general. I have three brothers, so I can understand your frustration with people you love deeply even though you may act irritated. Your piece also has made me realize that I should never take family or friends for granted and to make sure that I express my emotions before they become too overwhelming.

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  4. I am so glad that you shared this piece Rosie. I too, was born in a Christian home, whereas I am taught to keep my faith in God and always turn to him when in the time of need. I took it lightly and didn't really get the idea of faith because when I was younger, I never really faced a situation where I had to fight trials with just that leap of faith. So it takes a lot to build resilience through your faith, to generate self-healing, in which it seems you did perfectly. Beautiful testimony.

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  5. It was really interesting to be shown just how strong your faith is. Although I went to Catholic private school for 8 years of my life, I never felt a great connection to my religion. I wish my faith was nearly as strong as yours is. The way you describe your experience really makes the reader understand you almost on a personal level. In addition to your message about faith, there is also the theme that we shouldn't take anyone or anything in our life for granted. Overall, you did a great job making a very moving and emotional piece.

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  6. I really enjoyed reading this personal reflection because not many people have faith anymore and they don't know that God loves them always. I am amazed that you were able to hold back the tears because that was such a traumatic time in your life. Times like these make us stronger and they create connections and closer bonds with those we haven't always been close to.

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  7. I was really pleased to read to read about your love in God. I also love God and completely agree with you on how God's love for us can't be compared to anyone else's love for us. Also, I love how as time passed you started to move towards God more. At times like that people usually move away from him, but you went towards him. Overall this was a good piece and i especially admire the topic.

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  8. This piece was up lifting because during difficult times you should seek God and ask him to help you through this difficult time. Family is everything and when you lose someone its just hard to realize they are actually gone and you have to hold onto those memories of them.I also did Confirmation at Sacred Heart and its nice to know that someone went up there to the Eucharist and everything just got released. God loves everyone and he will also help you through times when you need him most.

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  9. Powerful story Rosie! This story was very touching and relatable to me personally. Incorporating God and your beliefs in the story to depict the strength he gave you in order to live the life that he has planned for you allowed me to connect even more to your story. I like how you explained that it is important to have a balance on the expression of your emotions to live a healthy life. I also admire how you have such a great relationship and strength in your faith, Great work!(:

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  10. Wow this is amazing. I really enjoyed reading this because it is very relatable. When times get tough for me I also turned to God for guidance. Its really important that people understand that crying isn't that answer and how you turned to God and it helped you open up more. Thank you for sharing this personal experience about your relationship with God.

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  11. This was very enjoyable and interesting to me because I was able to see another perspective, specifically of someone who has a hard time being emotional. I am the opposite, because I find myself to be a very emotional person, and sometimes too emotional. I enjoyed the religious aspect in this, and admire how intouch you are with God. That is wonderful.

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  12. This was truly a touching story. I admire how you were able to open up about a difficult time in your life in order for your readers to relate and connect with you. In this day and age, most people do not turn to God in their hardships. So to see that you do, it gives me hope that maybe you can inspire others to do so as well.

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  13. Hey, Rosie. I understand what you have went through, I too have lost people in my life. Honestly, from what I have read, you are a very strong person, physically and emotionally, but yet it is okay to be emotional at times. Not just that though, your piece really gave me more of an insight about who you really are as a person. I truly admired your word choice, your diction because it really helped with the tone being given off. Because of how you had Biblical related events occur in your piece I fully understood on your transition of feelings. I really enjoyed your piece a lot, and like some one's other piece it taught me the lesson of cherishing, valuing, appreciating a person in your life because you will never know what could happen in the future. Thank you very much for this piece but I am truly sorry for the series of events that has happened to you, I know you're a very strong person and I really admire you. Amazing job.

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  14. Great and inspiring story. It was touching and I loved the way you broke down every part of your hardships seamlessly. I also admire how you became closer to God. Your story was so beautiful and I know there are a handful of people that could relate to your experience.

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  15. Your commitment is something else. You chose to embrace yourself and your cousin's memory through religion. Instead of letting a tragic event hold you down you still picked yourself up and faced reality. It truly is your strength and you seem to constantly grow.

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  16. Thank you for sharing this personal story. Despite the tragic event, this piece was uplifting because you showed strength in yourself and learned the importance of love. It was beautifully written and the timeline of realization throughout the piece was flawless. Great job!

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  17. Thank you for sharing this story with all of us. Not only is it courageous to share such a personal story with all of us but it is difficult to talk about relationship with God to people who might not share the same beliefs as you. It is amazing how you used this situation to help strengthen your relationship with God. Great job sharing your experience in words.

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  18. Thank you for sharing your story. As a child of God it is refreshing to hear about how he has blessed someone and helped them through their trials. This story really shows how God will always be there for you especially when things go wrong. You articulated your experience very well, may you and your family be blessed.

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  19. This piece is very emotional and seems to be from the heart, for this I applaud you, from being very willing to share these experiences to showing how you are "eternally grateful", it is a very well written piece of literature, Thank you for giving us the chance to experience the emotion and generosity behind it.

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  20. Rosie, I truly loved this story. This was so encouraging to read. I agreed with everything you were saying about God never abandoning you . After reading this my faith has grew even stronger. This was really touching and I think it's important to show that even if you do feel alone, you're not. God's love never ceases to fail and you've shown that throughout the story. Great job!

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  21. I can relate so much to this piece. I'm glad you learned to turn to God in your hard times because many people don't. And i feel that makes all the difference. I know writing personal stories is difficult but you did an amazing job.

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  22. Rosie, it takes a lot of courage for someone to hide their emotions from others for such a long time. However, you learned that it was not doing you any good to do so and through your religion you were able to overcome what had been weighing you down for so long. I really enjoyed reading your story and it is truly a great representation of your inner strength. Your story has taught me to be thankful for those that are in my life because one day they will be gone and that when they are God will always be there no matter what. Thank you for sharing your story with us.

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  23. This is absolutely the most touching piece I have had the pleasure of reading. I can relate to this when you said that you think that crying is seen as a weakness. I don't like breaking down in front of others either. I like being the one that holds my family together but of course it is hard at times. I really respect when you mentioned that you finally broke down especially since that because of this you embraced your faith more. I'm so glad you can speak out about your faith even when it is connected with a truly difficult time in your life. I am so thankful for you and this writing.

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  24. I find it amazing that you were able to open up and pour such heavy emotion into a public piece, especially for being such a private and personal person. That takes amazing strength. You told your story so beautifully and worded everything perfectly. You were able to display your emotions and show how your relationship with God was able to heal you and I find that to be unbelievably beautiful. The writing itself gives the story so much meaning through your use of words and how they are placed. Amazing job.

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  25. I truly understand the pain, and the strength as well when my grandmother died. The idea of actually admitting to the concept is truly brave of you. It takes alot to actually talk about our problems and feelings. This passage was very well written.

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  26. You really have a lot of strength and faith to spea kso deeply about your personal matters. When bad things happen, most people lose faith and give up on the fight. Those who succeed are those who fight even harder when times are tough. If you ever have any doubts, just remember all the times God has delivered you in the past and you will make it, I promise.

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  27. First off, I commend you for willing to share such a personal experience with us. Incorporating faith into your life to bring you strength and hope brought encouragement to the reader. A reflecting tone shown through the life lesson told from your story is a direct representation of how strong of a person you are.

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  28. I am so sorry for your loss. I appreciate that you share this personal information with the class because I am sure people can relate in the way that you deal with your emotions and loss in general. Your family and close friends will always be there for you and will help you through hard times. The story was brief and meaningful which is actually perfect and it fits beautifully. Thank you for sharing this with us.

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  29. Your piece inspires me. Your loss was tragic and no one should ever have to pass at such a young age, yet in a moment when you could have easily turned away from God and blamed him for taking your cousin's life, you instead leaned on Him and trusted his judgement. Many people are so quick to turn against their faith when times get hard, but your loss instead brought you closer to God. I think you did a great job of getting your point across that despite how difficult times may get, everyone must find their own strength to move on and to continue growing as an individual.

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  30. Thank you for sharing your story as it does take a lot to reflect and tell of a situation like this. Loss of a loved one is hard for everyone and it can affect people in different ways. I like that you found your strength to help you through this difficult situation through religion. Your story was well written from start to end. Good job.

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  31. Your story is really inspiring I loved how you showed that even during though times there should always be something/someone that you can turn to . Everyone gets past major events in their life differently and I feel like many people can find your story helpful during their difficult times.

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  32. Wow. Thank you for writing this story as I am sure it took a lot out of you. I myself was raised by a heavy Catholic for a father and a heavy Christian for a mother so God has always been in my life, when I was first born my mother told me she raised me up in the air and gave me to God. (Something out of the Lion King.) Religion isn't always a big topic in blogging so this piece really touched me and the structure of it made it really reach the reader. Great job.

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  33. I have always been a person to envy someone else because of their faith and their relationship with God. I never could understand how someone could possibly love God so much when of course they have never seen him, but I understand what it means to have a strong passion and fate towards this higher power. You did a great job with this piece and I loved reading about it.

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  34. I really admire your strength and passion. Its really interesting to hear about others testimonies dealing with the hardships that approach them in life and hoe they can find their way through it through their religion and beliefs. As a christian i enjoy this even more because it really builds to the faith and how though it we can conquer whatever comes our way.

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