"Dad's Christmas" by Leslie R

December 22nd 2014, it was nearing Christmas so we packed and left for the family trip we usually always took to celebrate. I had visited my dad a week before we had left and spoken to him over the phone only a few days before. We, being my little brothers, my tia, uncle and myself, were heading to Angel’s Camp located in Calaveras County, CA. The trip took a few hours and when we finally arrived it was later in the day and so cold, the ground was covered in a thin layer of snow, which was an awesome change from the typical scenery you get in Fontana. After a few hours of lazing around the hotel room we began to unpack the little Christmas tree and decorate the room to give it that spirited feel because we’d be staying there until the 26th then leaving. The next day we spent messing around in the snow and walking around the town heavily associated with the Gold Rush, so of course you can imagine what was plastered all over the town. Then we walked back to the hotel, made dinner, ate dinner and went to sleep. The rest of the days leading up to Christmas went similarly, snowball fights, walking, eating and sleeping. Waking up Christmas morning came with excitement because all I could think was “Heck ya, can’t wait to see what I got”, but also an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. It felt like when you know how bad your grades are, and you know your parent is most likely going to check and see, which is then going to lead to them clicking on a class and seeing all those missed assignments you have. You know you are going to get in so much trouble, that something bad is going to happen and you are just waiting for it to happen. Except in this case I had no idea why I felt how I did nor did I know when this “bad thing” would happen, and eventually I forgot about it and went back to ripping open my presents. After hours spent playing with my new IPad we ate dinner and went to bed. One of my little brothers and I had to share the pull out bed in the living space and my tia, uncle and other little brother got the bed in the actual room. I was on the verge of sleep when my tia’s phone rang, and because i’m so lazy I ignored it and tried going back to sleep then again it rang and again I didn’t pick it up. It happened about 2 more times after that before I decided to get out of the bed and look at it, my abuela’s contact came up and I went right into my parents’ room to let my tia know that her phone had been ringing and that it was my abuela. She called back and I went right back to bed, once again I was on the verge of sleep when suddenly I heard a shout in my ear that scared me awake, I looked around and saw no one around so I kind of just sat there looking lost. Then my tia came out of the bed room. She had tears streaming down her face, sobbing and the instant she looked me in the eyes and I just knew exactly what had happened, he was dead. Never in my life had I cried so hard in my life, it wracked through my body and made it almost impossible to breathe. My uncle came out, took my little brother to the bedroom and let my tia and I cry without disturbance. It took me hours to calm down, but the tears never stopped, not when I watched t.v to try and distract myself and not when I tried to sleep. That entire night was spent sitting on the couch doing nothing but thinking. The next morning as soon as the sun rose we were on our way right back home. The next few days passed by in a blur, just a bunch of family giving their condolences, late nights sitting up thinking about him and why it had to happen the way it did and on Christmas day. That was  THE worst day of my life and since then Christmas has not ever been the same, but it helped me become stronger. There is not much worse emotionally then losing a family member so it really did help me, especially being able to put things in perspective when it gets tough.