"Acceptance" by Angiolina S

It was the beginning of summer. School just ended and I was awaiting the adventures and
experiences this summer was going to bring me. Through the first week, my family and I began taking out all our summer items as excitement began to fill up the house of all the possibilities of this summer. But then that day happened. My siblings and I began packing for our first trip to Peru with our dad as we were leaving the following day. This was going to be my first trip to Peru and my heart began pounding from the exhilaration of the thought of being able to reunite with my family. The house was lit with anticipation as we were almost finished up, but then there was a knock-the soft, three slow knocks on my wooden front door. Little did we know that knock held heart breaking news. I saw my brother slowly opening the creaking door and saw that it was the mother of one of our childhood friends. I could tell something was very wrong from the way she was holding her frail body and the dark circles around her eyes. There was a sense of darkness that crept around her presents. “Dana’s in a coma,'' she said in a low voice and continued, “she passed out as she was up to bat at her softball game. The doctors said she had an aneurysm and it’s not looking good.” Confusion and sorrow began to fill my head as I felt for Dana and her family, but also wondering why this would happen to such a wonderful person. Later in the day, we drove to the hospital in silence and guarded emotions as we all didn’t want to break the ice on what was actually going on. We arrived at the hospital seeing the blocked blue letter indicating “ICU”. Step by step, I began walking to her hospital room. All I could hear was the ringing of the telephones and see other families devastated by their own losses. I saw the small white blocked numbers that made up her room number and slowly walked in with my family following after. Tears fled my eyes as I saw her mom’s red eyes filled with tears just as mine were and we quickly embraced in a tight hug. I then saw her brother and knew that he was feeling much more pain than anyone in that room as his body was shaking from the heartbreak. The sound of the life support machine was like white noise. All I can remember from that hospital visit was seeing her fragile body laying on the cushioned hospital bed. Her hair was laid perfectly surrounding the stitches that were sewn into her scalp. Her hands and fingers were slendered and all I could focus on was the machine helping her inhale and exhale. I held her slim hand as I moved closer to her bedside and began reminiscing of the great memories we had in elementary school. The person I looked up to as a role model, the person that helped me through the toughest times, was laying in that hospital bed with a 10% chance of coming out of the coma, and I couldn’t do anything about it. I was gripping her hand hoping that her brother talking to her, or the amount of love and support she was receiving was going to bring her back and her eyelids will open revealing her brown eyes, but nothing. All I was left with was emptiness, trying to think of the last words I told her, the last memories, but all I could think was why? Why did it have to be a person like her? The most heartwarming and sweetest person I could have met was taken from me just like that. Three days later, my siblings and I were in Peru with my dad. It was late at night after a day filled with fun festivities with our family and were getting ready for bed. As I was looking down at my phone looking for entertainment, but my screen was quickly lit up with, “#ripdana”. Seeing those small letters lit on my screen tore my heart apart. From the start of getting the news I knew how the odds were going to turn out, but the actual reality of it hurt more. It was hard to see as tears filled my eyes and grief was all I was feeling. Memories, the regret I felt for not keeping more in touch with her as years progressed all

pervaded my thoughts. Later in the night I got a call from my mom with the same news, knowing that there was no way for her to comfort me as she was in another country. I couldn’t manage out a single word just weeps over the phone. Through the passing months, it was hard as this was one of the first times I had lost someone so important in my life. I tried to avoid the fact the she was really gone, I couldn’t accept it. I questioned all the time why this could happen so suddenly to someone who has never done anything wrong, and began pushing people out of my life-afraid of the image of another person leaving my life. I became a person I didn’t want to be. Through this terrible time in my life, resentfully, I learned that I have to accept when it’s time for a person to go. I accepted the fact that she was truly gone, that I couldn’t bring her back. From that point, I have cherished the time I have with friends and family, both good and bad moments, and try to make impacts on their lives just as Dana did to mine.