Death.
My life has been fairly normal. I've not had to experience too many crazy things. The worst thing to occur in my life is deaths---of friends, family members, and neighbors. Although death is probably the worst thing to deal with, I've certainly had my fair share of it. Sometimes the deaths were accidents, sometimes they were murders, and sometimes they were natural. It's really strange now to reflect on it.
The first person I remember dying was a friend of my dad's. He was a really awesome guy-very loving and caring to everyone. He treated my brother and I like we were his own kids. This guy would go out of his way for you. His name was AJ. One night in August of 1992, he dropped off a friend of his at the guy's house. As he was at a stop sign, someone approached his car and offered him cocaine. AJ was a military man-an honorable man. He slapped the cocaine out of the guy's hand. Well the dealer thought that AJ had knocked it into his car (on purpose) and shot him. The bullet traveled under his arm and hit his heart. He didn't die instantly, though. He was so scared he drove off and turned a corner-only to hit a fence. He died in his car. My mom didn't allow me to go to his funeral, so I've never had closure.
I believe it was 1994, one of the guys my dad worked with passed away. At the time, my dad was working two jobs-one for the military, the other at the local bowling alley. The guy was an older gentleman, but he was like the grandpa I never knew. I remember he was the first person I cried for when he died. I was also the only "child" at his funeral. To this day, it makes me sad; he was just such a genuine guy.
On December 26, 1995, my grandfather on my mom's side died from cancer. I didn't know him very well, but to lose your grandparent, its still a hard thing to deal with. I remember a couple of days before Christmas; I got home from school and listened to the messages on the answering machine. One was from my uncle with this bone-chilling message to my mom: "Hey Joni, if you want to speak to Dad before he dies, you need to call now." I called my mom at work right then, and she rushed home. We went up for his funeral pretty much right after his death.
Most recently the deaths I've had to deal with have been
The first person I remember dying was a friend of my dad's. He was a really awesome guy-very loving and caring to everyone. He treated my brother and I like we were his own kids. This guy would go out of his way for you. His name was AJ. One night in August of 1992, he dropped off a friend of his at the guy's house. As he was at a stop sign, someone approached his car and offered him cocaine. AJ was a military man-an honorable man. He slapped the cocaine out of the guy's hand. Well the dealer thought that AJ had knocked it into his car (on purpose) and shot him. The bullet traveled under his arm and hit his heart. He didn't die instantly, though. He was so scared he drove off and turned a corner-only to hit a fence. He died in his car. My mom didn't allow me to go to his funeral, so I've never had closure.
I believe it was 1994, one of the guys my dad worked with passed away. At the time, my dad was working two jobs-one for the military, the other at the local bowling alley. The guy was an older gentleman, but he was like the grandpa I never knew. I remember he was the first person I cried for when he died. I was also the only "child" at his funeral. To this day, it makes me sad; he was just such a genuine guy.
On December 26, 1995, my grandfather on my mom's side died from cancer. I didn't know him very well, but to lose your grandparent, its still a hard thing to deal with. I remember a couple of days before Christmas; I got home from school and listened to the messages on the answering machine. One was from my uncle with this bone-chilling message to my mom: "Hey Joni, if you want to speak to Dad before he dies, you need to call now." I called my mom at work right then, and she rushed home. We went up for his funeral pretty much right after his death.
Most recently the deaths I've had to deal with have been