The bonds that hold a family together can be very thin, but during times of tragedy they become much stronger. My family had to experience this after the death of two of my family members, both in the year 2010. With the events leading up to their death’s I realized how people try to cling to life and how easily death can change someone. Since the moment my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer, she proved to be the strongest in the family. She had always been the link that kept our family together, and after her diagnosis, she made that job her main priority.
The doctors found the cancer when it had already metastasized to her bladder. But at that point we were not that worried, the cancer was still relatively small which meant that she could still be cured. The cancer could not be removed through surgery because it was too big for that; so the doctors recommended chemotherapy to prevent it from growing and possibly reducing its size. The effects of the therapy on her body did not take long to become visible.
My grandmother had to shave her head because her hair began to fall, and her body looked exhausted, as if part of her liveliness had been sucked away from her. Nonetheless, it was worth it, because the treatment was working. The tumor was shrinking and the smaller it got, the greater our hopes became. Maybe that was the reason why we felt immensely crushed when the doctors said that the tumor suddenly started to grow again and that it was spreading throughout her body. We had built our hopes up and collided with reality, a very painful collision.
It did not take long for the cancer to reach her brain, at that point, there was no going back. She started receiving radiotherapy to prolong her life as much as possible, but she did not have more that six months. The pain she felt was unbearable, or so said the doctors, because even at that point my grandmother would never let you know she was suffering. She only did it so we would not worry about her. The doctors had to give her a special medicine that would keep her asleep because letting her feel the pain was not an option.
She looked beautiful laying in her bed sleeping soundly, she felt no pain. The doctors told us to talk to her because even though she was asleep she could still hear us, so we did. My sister once told her that she could die in peace, without having to worry about leaving her family behind, because we would be alright, she had done her job perfectly. The next day she died. Even though everyone knew she was going to die, it was not easy for anyone. We had lost her forever and that was the reality we had to face.
We all felt sorrowful after losing her and because the grief was insufferable no one thought that things could get worse, but they always can. Not more than two months had passed since the death of my grandmother when another tragedy hit the family. My uncle’s life was taken away from him for a gold chain that was not nearly as valuable as his life. A man snatched the chain while another man waited on a motorcycle nearby so they could easily flee, but my uncle was not going to let them do so.
He started chasing the man that had taken the gold chain and knocked him to the ground. The man got a gun and without hesitation shot my uncle and got on the motorcycle. Resiliently, my uncle took the gun and shot the remaining bullets at the two men, but they were already too far away. My aunt was with him when it all happened, she witnessed it all. My family was barely processing my grandmother’s death and now we had to deal with another one. Indeed, the worst death is the death of a loved one, it can change your life forever, it makes you a different person.
The worst part is when you realize that no matter how much time you spent with that person or how often you told them you loved them, it will simply never seem like it was enough. Even though death is the only certain thing in life, we always try to avoid it, we are afraid of it. In conclusion, the difference between life and death is a blink of an eye, life just has to be lived to the fullest so when death comes there are no regrets of things not done.
