"Gratitude" by Darlene C

Gratitude- an emotion we can forget to put into use. Instead, our thoughts are clouded with simple and at times senseless things in life. These distractions sometimes make us forget to recognize how lucky and blessed we are. It has happened to me countless of times, and it continues to occur.

My family; my grandmother, my mother, my father, and two sisters are the most important people in my life. They have sacrificed so much for me, giving me the opportunities they never had. They have been through everything; giving me their wisdom, their support and unconditional love. So, when the possibility of any one of them no longer being there with me became a possibility, it became one of the most frightening moments I have experienced to this day.

One afternoon near the end of 2013, I got into my mother’s car after school and looked up to see her crying. Worried, but knowing that she was trying to calm herself down, I waited to receive the news. After months of discomfort and noticeable change in my father’s behavior, the doctors discovered several masses on the left side of his brain. I sat in shock and in silence during our drive, knowing that when I got home, I was going to have to say goodbye to my father as he was going to be admitted to the hospital for more testing. Days passed by and he underwent several CAT and MRI scans, but those results led to no new discovery as to what those masses were. His health deteriorated rapidly, he was visibly thinner, his strength weakened and his quick and sharp mind slowed. Hope still lingered in our hearts, it was the last thing we could hold onto, but it began to diminish with the lack of hope the doctors had. They gave my mother two options, both showing slim chances of his survival.

It was at that moment that my naivety towards life was cleared, the people you love are not guaranteed forever. After two weeks in the hospital and a small change in the course of my father's health, he was discharged. He came home days before Christmas and we spent it with fears and worries that it would be our last one together. Days and months passed, and to the surprise of the doctors, my father began to regain his health.

Today my father thankfully is still with us, and as every day goes by my gratitude strengthens. I have not only been fortunate enough to have such an amazing family, but I have been given a second chance to appreciate them more than I did before. The thing I have begun to learn about life in these last couple of years is that every event and moment happens for a reason. That no matter what goes on, there is always something to be grateful for. Although sometimes these kinds of events may be difficult to understand, or even justify, they all have a purpose. Sometimes we forget to look for this purpose, but we just have to take the time to look around us to find it.