Everyone has had a “first” before; it could be anything; first kiss, first physical or emotional fight, first time you feel in love, and so on. For me, I have experienced several “firsts” in the past few years. I will always remember every single one; there have been times when those memories have been refreshed back into my mind and I think about them. How they changed me, how they made me act, love, think, and cry. At the start of my freshman year at Linganore High School I was lost, since I was redistricted to a completely different high school I knew no one. That year for me has been considered as one of the “first” times I have ever thought to be alone. Thank god I decided to try out theater and participate in other school activities. At the end of that year, I was excited, joyous, and ecstatic for my sophomore year at the single greatest high school. I would not believe that after such a difficult year nothing else could stop me. But something did. When something occurs that shuts down my whole family I then knew that my first year of high school was not so bad.  When summer vacation began there was a slight change of tone that occurred throughout my whole family. On the last day of school, my grandmother suffered a severe stroke. Even though my freshman year was a difficult one, when we found out that my grandmother was in trouble a dark curtain shrouded our entire family.

It was a very bright and sunny afternoon, one of the first days of the summer. I was extremely happy to get off the bus that day, since it was the last day of school, and it was also the release day of a new map pack for a video game I recently purchased. I flew inside my house and into my room; I did not even notice that my father was home from work early, I was just so excited to shoot up some zombies. As soon as turned on my gaming console, I heard my father say in a very stern tone, “Dillon will you please turn off your console and get down here, now.” Of course I was mad that I had to get up from my bed and not play my new video game. So I quickly ran down the stairs to find out what he needed from me. But then I froze, my whole family my mother with a ruffled tissue in her hand, my father standing behind her, and my two other sisters sitting on the opposite side of the table waiting for me to sit down with them. There was something wrong. Since I did not know what was going on, I sat immediately down right next to my sisters to see what my parents were going to say.  There was an awkward pause, and then my mother took a deep breath and stated, “Gigi was getting a shower this morning, a very long shower, your grandfather thought she was in the shower way too long and decided to see what was going on. She was on the floor, in pain, not moving a bit, like she was a statue. We believe she had a very sever stroke and she has been taken to the hospital and she is in critical condition.” My heart dropped, it felt like my heart was falling down the empire state building twice without stopping. It was incredibly hard to see my mother trying to explain that her mom that she has loved for so many years, to explain to her kids that she is in critical condition, that was one of the most heart wrenching moments that I have ever felt in my whole life. My father then decided to make my mom to the laundry room, right next door to the family room; he then decided to close the door. I could hear my mother crying while my father was comforting her, my dad kept saying to her that everything was going to be okay, but she never believed him. Soon after he stepped out in front of us, (Amanda, Taylor and I), and said. “Amanda you are in charge of Dillon and Taylor. Your mother and I are going to spend the night at the hospital so we can be there for your grandmother. Everything is going to be okay, be positive.” Be positive? How can you be “positive” when your grandmother is dying and there is nothing we can do? We then sat in the family room on the couch just the three of us, watching movies waiting for the news.

That day took forever. We spent two days waiting for a response from our parents. My father called Amanda and said that they were heading home to pick us up. It was time for us to see my grandmother. Once they got home we got dressed and we headed back out to the hospital. The whole ride there was miserable and awkward. My father continued to ask us what we did the past two days; he already knew what we did. We didn’t do anything. And then there is my mother on the passenger side on her cell phone gloomy saying nothing like she was mute. It was a very long thirty minutes. Once we got to the hospital, we got out of the car and entered the hospital. I hate hospitals. They are dark and horrid, and no one wants to end up there. The worst part is that most hospitals in the lobby have sketchy posters that hang around the walls saying “The hospital with a heart” or “Smiles are meant to be shared”. Like we all know what the sole purpose of a hospital is used for. Just being inside a hospital puts me into a mellow mood, and I believe it did as well for my whole family. Once we entered the floor on where my grandmother was being held, we walked down to her room and I got to see something that I usually never get to visualize. I got to see my whole family together, my aunt from California, my uncle from Virginia, my grandfather, we were together. Even though this was a very depressing time for all of us, for once we were all together as a family.

Once we all greeted each other we decided then to go see my grandmother.  The lightning was dimmed and the walls had an off-white color due to its age. Then I saw my grandmother, she was asleep but she didn’t look normal to me. Her whole right side was swollen; her arm, her leg, and her face, was uneven with the left side of her body. To be honest it startled me, it startled me to see my grandmother who I have known all my life to look like a completely different person. Once I saw her me and my younger sister decided to leave the room, we just couldn’t handle seeing her like that. We walked to the lobby right next door to her room. We sat down, and suddenly my sister turned to me and asked, “Why did this happen to Gigi Dillon? Do you think she will be ok?” I could see from the corner of her eyes tears being ready to triple down her boney cheeks. I honestly couldn’t say anything to Taylor; the only thing I could of saying was that she is going to be ok. That was by far one of the most awkward conversations that I have ever had with my younger sister. A little bit after my Uncle and my father went outside her room to grab Taylor and I. My father said, “Gigi has just woken up and I bet she would really enjoy seeing the both of you.” We once again entered the aged room; it was very hard for me to see my grandmother once again. But all I could hear was an aching mumble from her, that’s it. The doctor entered the room and told my sisters and I that since she was paralyzed she is not able to pronounce any words. The whole room was filled with awkward vibes, with incredible amounts of pauses; I just wanted to go home. My uncle tried to start a conversation with my grandmother and it did not work out. He asked the dumbest questions to my grandma such as, “How are you feeling?” and “Are you excited for summer?” And she only answered with mutters. And that’s how it was the rest of the time, just mutters. After a couple of hours we decided to head home. We went to bed, and the next day we went out to see her again.

This has to be the first time that one of our family members were in critical health. It was also one of the first times my family was stuck in dark times.  It was a scary time for all of us. But because of this our family became a lot closer. My aunt from California, who usually never visited us, now visits us twice a year. And my mother and my uncle have become closer, whereas kids and young adults, they never talked to each other. My grandmother though is still paralyzed. She cannot speak or move. But thank god she is still alive. So in the long run even though this event changed my whole family, this event has pulled my family together.