Long Summer Nights

                One interesting thing that happened this summer was the fact that so many people I loved died. Within a months span, two people near and dear to my heart died. I know this may sound morbid, but just listen.

                The first one to go was my Grandpa, Charles “Dick” Richard Trottier. His fatality was brought on by a mass in his stomach and a blockage in his bowels. On July 11, 2013, my Grandpa went to Golden Acres to see My Grandma Shirley. He brought her Taco Bell and visited with her, but later that night when he got home something was wrong. My Grandpa was having chronic diarrhea, and went to the hospital. The nurse said that it was just food poisoning, but it was so much more than that. The next morning, the nurse came out and announced that my Grandpa had a mass in his stomach and a blockage in his bowels. It was time to say the final goodbye. My sister, my brother, and I rushed to the hospital to see him one time, but we were too late. On July 12, 2013, he was gone.

                The second one to go was a family friend, Dave. The cause of his death was suicide. Dave was a smart, but antisocial man. I had not seen him since he moved to Georgia a couple years ago. He just lost his job recently. He claimed that he had enough money saved up and he was fine, but I guess there was more to it because he shot himself. First, he held the gun under his chin and shot. The bullet went up to his nose, hit a bone, and came out of his nose. Since that did not work, he tried again. This time, he lifted the gun up to his head. This time, he was successful. On August 16, 2013, a week after he died, his father found him.

                Each of these events had a great impact on my life.  Each of these men played a different role in my life. Both of them have their significances.

                My Grandpa Dick was so proud of me. He never thought that any family member of his would ever make straight A’s, or get into an early college program. Although it saddens me that he is not here to be a part of this journey, it makes me work harder and want to do better.

                Dave showed me that there are other people in the world like me that achieve academicly and who are not very social, but seeing what happened to him made me want to change. I still want to succeed, but not at the price of my sanity. I decided I was no longer stressing about being the “perfect student” and I would try to associate more.

                As much as I have mourned these deaths, I have also grown from them. As they say, every cloud has a silver lining.