My dad, a true fighter, the definition of a hard worker, someone who has endured more than anyone deserves too. Ever since I was young I can remember my dad laying on our couch for days at a time. He would struggle to move and he wouldn't do the things he loved to do. He wouldn't go outside, he wouldn't throw the ball to our dog, Otto, he just wouldn't move from our couch. It wasn't that he wouldn't, it was that he couldn't. 

“Dad is in a lot of pain right now and you have to be easy with him, don't bother him, he needs to rest. He might not be able to play with you, so don't ask, just play by yourself for a little,” my mom would tell me. But despite my mom’s warning, I would still ask him to do stuff with me and he would still say yes. Even if he shouldn't have. I now know that as a young adult my dad was once again recovering from one of his many surgeries he’s had in his lifetime.

My dad’s job is extremely physically demanding and dangerous. The kind of job where something could go wrong at any minute and no one would be able to stop the inevitable. He owns a tree removal company with my uncles, his brothers. Accidents have happened to other workers before, so I was not unaware of the dangers.

“There was an accident on the job site today and a tree fell on one of the guys, and he had to go to the hospital to get the bark removed from under his skin. You girls need to be thankful that it wasn't one of your daddies and that you guys get to go to the pool everyday and not have to do dangerous things to get money for your families.” I remember my cousin and I were at the pool one day, I was maybe seven at the time. My Aunt Melissa told us this. I know my aunt had no intentions of scaring my cousin and I, but that has stuck with me my whole life. That at any minute, any day something could go wrong at my dad’s job. I didn’t realize at the time how true her statement was.

I walked up to my room with my backpack after getting dropped off by the bus from school. I still remember what day it was, Wednesday and I was in eighth grade. I called my mom as I usually did, but that call would alter the next years of my life dramatically. As soon as she picked up the phone, I knew something was wrong. I could tell she was no longer at work, but I never predicted that she would be in the hospital next to my severely injured dad. 

“G.” She said, my heart went into my stomach when she said just that. Her sullen tone was not enough preparation for what I was about to hear. 

“Daddy’s had a really bad accident at work and I'm at the hospital with him now. He’s about to go in for emergency surgery. I won't be home until late tonight, if you need anything call Aunt Melissa. Ok?” All I could think about was my dad and my brain began to flood with images of him. Images of me not wanting him to leave me yet, images of him dying and me at his funeral, images of him in the hospital. All I wanted was for him to make it through the surgery and make a full recovery. 

“Yea mom, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me, just focus on dad. I can take care of myself.” But I was not fine. My breath went heavy and I began panting, but I did not cry. Not yet at least. I didn't want to think about it, so once my heavy breathing settled I went and made myself a sandwich and had my piano lesson. Maybe I was going manic, but staying busy kept my mind off of the craziness my life had just entered.

“Never look backwards, only forward. It doesn’t do any good digging through mud. All you get is dirty. Best wash yourself clean and move on.” -Georgia Miller

That quote has given me the confidence in life to look to the future and not the past and in this instance, I tried my best to utilize it. 

My dad was in the hospital for another week after this. My mom wouldn't talk to me about the details of the accident, or the surgery, or anything really. I could tell she was protecting me from something I didn't need to know about, but I wanted to know. My mom slept at the hospital every night to be with my dad. I was home alone on the first night and I knew that being alone would make me think about the accident and all the questions I wanted the answers to. I knew staying at my house would make my head spin, so I went to Melissa’s house.  She took care of me, along with her three kids. Melissa is the most compassionate, caring, and loving person I know. She made me breakfast every morning, she slept on the couch every night so that I could sleep in her and my uncle's room, she did everything for me and never made me feel like a burden. I'm forever grateful to her because I don't know what I would have done or where I would be without her during that time.

It was Friday, my dad was done with his surgeries and finally conscious. I received a voicemail from him while I was doing something with Melissa. I anxiously waited the whole car ride home to listen to it. I ran through the door after getting out of the car, and sprinted to the bathroom to listen to it.

“GG, I need you to call me as soon as you can. Ok? And it's gotta be soon. Please. As soon as you can, call me, ok? I love you.” When I heard his voice, it confirmed that he was alive and ok. I began shaking while holding my phone to my ear. He talked in a tone that I never heard before in my whole life, a sad and depressing tone. I called him back and told him that I'm so glad he's ok and how I miss and love him.

It was Monday and I still didn’t know when my dad would be getting out of the hospital. School was getting to be a lot, and I felt overwhelmed and I wanted a break, but I couldn't get one because my mom was still not home. I was supposed to have a Spanish project done on Friday, but I was too stressed with being at my cousins’ house, my other classes, and the thought of my dad. I just mentally couldn't get it done. I hadn't told any of my teachers or coaches about my dad because I thought I could handle it and wouldn't need any extra time on assignments. So with that, my Spanish teacher scolded me for not having my project done and called me out in front of the whole class. My heart paused from beating and I felt like I was going to throw up. After class, I went up to her and tried to tell her that I'm trying my best but I ended up sobbing to her and telling her about my dad’s accident. She still told me to have the assignment done by that night or I would get a zero. That teacher, that incident, made me hate the world more and only see the worst in some people. But, I had to let it roll off my back and keep going. I knew I was just trying to survive, and I was doing a good job of it. I turned in my Spanish assignment that night with an eye-opening life lesson that some people really only care about themselves. 

That Wednesday my dad finally got to come home! I was scared to see what state he would be in, if he would be the same person or someone completely different but I recognized my dad immediately. His recovery was hard, but he's the strongest person I know and fought through his severe concussion. It was a hard change for our family to navigate. Trying to figure out what my dad would be like and what he needed, but we did and we survived. I asked my dad a couple weeks later what happened. He told me he was eating his lunch on the job site for that day, and all of the sudden he heard the other guys screaming so he ran over to help. One of the guys who was up at the top of the tree started to fall while cutting a branch. My dad quickly ran over to help. The guy was able to get to safety, but the branch he was cutting still fell. Since my dad ran over so quickly to help, he forgot his hard hat and the branch falling from 30 feet in the air fell on him, on his head. He immediately went unconscious and my uncles had to call 9-1-1 to save his life. For a full year after my dad’s brain injury, he was not exactly the same. In fact, I still notice some changes, like the things he used to not care about can irritate him. These changes nobody else sees except for me and my mom. I thank God everyday that my dad survived and he will be able to see me go to prom, graduate, and he gets to walk me down the aisle at my wedding. And now I want to do those things more than ever because I don't want to take my life for granted either. I love you dad and thank you for everything you do for me.