Good-Bye free essay sample

â€Å"Come now,† her text read. That was all she needed to say. Within seconds, I was in my moms car. As I drove, I concentrated on keeping my eyes dry, trying not to think about what I was about to do. My muscles were tense, my teeth were clenched, and the closer I got to her house, the faster the blood pumped through my body. Confusion and terror took over my thoughts, making my attention to the road unreliable. I had never had to use so much willpower to focus on my driving. Once her house finally appeared, I ripped the keys from the ignition. As I ran to her front door, I wondered if I should be sprinting toward this daunting event, but my trembling hands were already turning the doorknob. â€Å"Hes dying,† she told me a couple of weeks before. I dont remember hearing anything after that. We will write a custom essay sample on Good-Bye or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Maybe it was because her sobs made her words inaudible, or maybe I had stopped listening, but either way, I had not believed her. Being best friends with a straightforward girl whose father was battling cancer gave me many speechless moments. This was one of them. I held the phone to my ear as I listened to her cry painfully. Finally, I managed to whisper, â€Å"No †¦Ã¢â‚¬  I wanted to say, â€Å"Thats not true,† or â€Å"Itll all get better soon,† but how did I know that? Each time I promised her that he would get better, my words were contradicted by his doctors. The hospital visits were ending with more depressing news, but I still had not believed her. I wasnt willing to accept that things like this happened to people I knew. Now here I was, standing in her laundry room. She hugged me and whispered, â€Å"Be strong.† Then she pointed to her parents bedroom. Entering the room, my emotions escaped from me as if I had taken too big a breath and let it loose. Insuppressible sobs shook my body as I reached for his hand. But this wasnt the man I knew – the coach who taught me to play soccer in elementary school, the silly guy who sang along to â€Å"Crazy Frog† during our middle school obsession, or even the man who became my second father during a trip to Australia just six months earlier. I was holding the hand of cancer. Pimples peppered his yellowed face, and his skin was loose from the weight he had lost. How do you say good-bye to someone who knows hes dying? I didnt want my last moments with him to be heavy-hearted. Fighting my irregular breathing, I began to list all the happy times we had shared. I thanked him for the vacations I went on, and for the compassionate, strong, beautiful daughter he had raised. When I finished, I said, â€Å"I will miss you. I love you.† I was no longer shaking as I gave his hand a gentle squeeze. That day shaped the way I live. I realized that no one is invincible. It was a terrifying awakening, and initially I lived in a world of â€Å"what ifs† – making fear a routine feeling. In time, I came to a different conclusion: I need to appreciate life; I cannot allow myself to take it for granted, because I dont know when my life and the lives around me will come to an end. My continued decision to be chemical-free comes from my realization that I am lucky to have a body that sustains me. I have learned to forgive easily. Weve all heard the phrase, â€Å"Our time is precious; we shouldnt waste it,† but it wasnt until I held deaths hand that I learned to live that way.