Most people consider the age seven as the “good ole’ days”. I lived everyday careless, with not a worry in the world. I was so excited for the trip my Dad had planned to bring to his family to Hawaii with his business. I wasn’t too fond of the business part, but hey it was Hawaii. But things had changed very quickly for me.

A few dreading weeks before our planned flight, my dad was having unforgettable headaches with a constant aggravating ring in his ears; he assumed they were just from stress so he brushed them off. Then it got to the point where he didn’t go into work, and that man loves his job, where he helps his clients in hard times with the economy. The second day he had missed work he went to the walk-in clinic to see if there was anything he could do to get rid of them. Right away the doctors had hurried him to the ambulance vehicle and took him into emergency care. Later that night the house phone, that we never used, had rang. It was my dad explaining to my mom the news that he had a brain tumor. I could tell my mom’s heart had dropped as tears instantly went down her depressed looking face. In the room I had noticed my dads glasses resting on his nightstand next to his bed with the indents shaped to his body from sleeping there every night. Seeing my mom in tears made me feel weak and helpless until she said “for now, all we can do is pray”. I started to realize how serious the matter was after seeing my sister and mom so shocked and cheerless.

Losing my dad was the unspeakable, but that didn’t stop me from thought of it. Family memories, family traditions, old family photos, videos and anything involving my dad all emerged into my little seven year old brain. “Anything can happen” this cheesy saying didn’t mean anything to me till the day my mom, my sister and I had spent hours praying and going through tissue boxes like we were at the worst stage of a cold. After this major event in my life I started to notice all the little things not only my Dad had done for me and others, but what the everyday person does. I cherish the words “ You don’t know what you have till its gone” knowing someone I live with everyday could be taken away at a blink of an eye. I didn’t only learn how to appreciate someone and what they do to make this world a better place, I also learned how to truly love someone. Everyday is a blessing and you cannot take them for granted. What’s your story for everything you care about?