"Chapter 18" by Angelina M.

 

Throughout my life I have faced many challenges to get to where I am today.​During the past couple of years my family and I have dealt with the loss of many family members. One of them being the passing of my GP (grandpa). ​As an infant, I was dedicated to God by my GP. My GP was a pastor and a very strong mentor in me becoming close to God as a child. He always instilled Christian morals into our everyday lives and was a living testimony in how God works in amazing ways.

 

Through his sermons, I learned how he had not always seeked God until he changed his life around and became a born again Christian. I was always very involved in my church, attending every Sunday and Wednesday along with other days of the week going with my nana to clean up the church and make sure it was ready for the next service. That church has an extremely large place in my heart not only being a place to fellowship with my family but also being a place where I feel at home and welcomed by God.

 

Two years ago, on June 1st, 2018, my GP had been called to Heaven. That day was one of the hardest times of my life and I could not understand why he had to go so soon. My GP had been experiencing health problems for the past year during that time and even had to take some time off from the church because of those health issues. I remember at the start of it all like it was yesterday. It began with him getting a cane, sitting down while preaching, to then not being able to attend at all. I watched my grandpa begin to lose the strength he previously had physically, but I could still see the faith he had in God in his eyes. The day before his passing,

his sisters came to pray over him and the doctor said that he was going to make it. Suddenly those problems he had began to go away, before leaving the hospital I kissed his cheek and said, “I love you, GP.” I did not expect that to be the last time I ever spoke to him again, but him and I knew that God had a better place for him. The week of his passing was a rollercoaster of emotions. It was the first day of June when my grandpa had passed, then the third day of June which was my dad’s first birthday without his best friend, and then the tenth day of June, when my sister was born. Through all these experiences, I have learned that God has a plan and now my grandpa is rejoining in Heaven with Him. Church hasn’t been the same without my grandpa, after losing him, we then lost the church. We lost the place where our entire family had fellowshipped every Sunday and Wednesday, the place where my grandpa was the best version of himself, and the place where I had truly felt at peace with God.

 

In 2020, my nana had now lost her husband along with three of her siblings in such a short time span. The most recent passing of her brother really affected me because he was just alive and well. A week before he passed he had come to her house telling jokes and being the life of the party in any room he went. The day of his passing he had gone to church for the first time in a long time because of covid restrictions and he went to ask for prayer even though he was healthy. Then in the blink of an eye he had suffered from another heart attack but this time his pacemaker did not save him. This instance was a sign to my family and I that he had gone to a better place and really helped comfort us in his sudden passing. It really took a toll on me because my dad had suffered from similar things.

 

In June of 2014, my family and I went on a road trip to Seattle to visit my grandpa that lived there. During that time, my mom was pregnant with my little brother which was very exciting considering it was an eleven year age difference between him and I. On June 15th, 2014,

my dad had been feeling uneasy and it turns out that he was having a heart attack. I was pretty young at the time and did not really understand why this was happening but it was a very difficult time for me.

 

On October 18th, my dad was scheduled for his big heart surgery. As my mom awaited his surgery the day prior, she began to feel like she was going into labor. While my dad went into surgery, my mom was escorted to her own delivery room. ​Luckily my dad got out of surgery just in time to watch my brother be born.​​Growing up for the first eleven years of my life I had been an only child, and I never imagined I would have siblings, so it was a very emotional day for my family and I. My dad is one of the strongest people I know and I am very grateful that to this day he is still good and healthy.

 

All of these challenges have shown me how unpredictable life is and the value of living in the moment. We do not have time to sweat the small things when there are so many other things going around that we do not know of. I have learned that quality time is extremely valuable and you never really know what could happen or if that talk you had was one of the last. I am only on Chapter 18 of my life and I hope to regain the faith I had and continue to cherish the small things in life.