When I was twelve years old my grandma died. It was the first time in my life that a relative had died unexpectedly. My grandpa had died, but he was sick, and i was too young to understand. I was old enough to understand my grandma's passing, and she wasn't sick.

“Sophie, you’re getting dismissed.” My social studies teacher told me.

I gathered up my things and headed for the main office. I sat down in a blue chair and waited for my mom to come. I had no clue why I was getting dismissed. Countless possibilities ran through my mind. Maybe my mom had forgotten to tell me about a doctor’s appointment. Maybe I had a dentist appointment. Then, I remembered the events of the morning. My parents had left early to go to the hospital.

“Grandma fell this morning.” My mom had told me.

I thought nothing of it. I thought she had slipped and hurt herself.  Sitting in that office I began to wonder if the dismissal had something to do with her. Maybe we were going to see her in the hospital. Maybe we were going to see her before she died. It didn’t occur to me that she had already died.

I wasn’t sure if my thoughts were correct so I decided that if my cousin Joey, who attended the same school, got called down to the office then there was an issue.

The phone rang in the office. My eyes darted up, petrified that it was a call to dismiss Joey.

“Hello?” The secretary answered.

“Okay, Joey.” She wrote something down.

She didn’t call a teacher to dismiss him, so I decided it had been about a different Colin, not my cousin. Minutes went by and my mom still wasn’t there. I heard the phone being picked up and I listened intently. The secretary dialed a number, and then asked if she could have Joey for dismissal. My heart began to beat out of my chest. My cousin was leaving too.

Joey walked in and took a seat. We silently made eye contact, each of us too scared to speak. Later on I learned that he knew nothing about my grandma’s fall, but when he saw me in the office he knew something was wrong.
My uncle walked into the office with sad eyes,“Your mother will be here soon.” He told me as he signed Joey out.
After twenty-five minutes of nervously braiding and unbraiding my hair, my mom walked in with a tear-stained face. It was then I knew my grandma was gone. We walked out of the building and towards the car. I had to confirm what I already knew. I was still holding on to a thread of hope.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Grandma passed away today. We are going to pick up Patrick and then go to grandpa’s house.” She teared up.
I climbed into the backseat of the car.. I couldn’t stop crying. My grandma was amazing. She was the kindest person I have ever known. I was her only granddaughter and the bond we shared was strong. I remembered sleeping at her house, playing games, baking cookies, making pancakes into intricate shapes, sitting together at hockey games, and many hugs. She and I would hang out together and my brother would hang out with my grandpa.My grandma was so special to me.

We arrived at my grandpa’s house and went inside. A bunch of my relatives were sitting around the table. A box of donuts sat untouched. That was the only time I saw my dad cry. My grandpa sat stoic. He didn’t show his emotions on the outside, but we all knew he was hurting. The grandkids were outside and my brother and I retreated out of the house. We couldn’t bear to be in the house, it reminded us of weekends spent with my grandma.

My cousins Mark and Joey were playing hockey. My brother joined them. I didn’t play hockey and I didn’t want to interrupt their game so I stood off to the side. Standing there made me think and thinking made me cry. I had managed to stop crying to go inside but I lost it. I went to my car and pretended to look for something in my backpack. My cousin Mark and my brother left to go on a walk.

“Joey, do you want to go in the woods?” I asked my cousin. Two weeks prior we had been celebrating my birthday and Joey had asked me to go in the woods. I didn’t have the proper shoes at the time.

We climbed down a hill into the woods. The woods had many obstacles that kept us distracted. We began to talk about memories of my grandma Jane. We talked about school and our lives. We had never been close before, but my grandma's passing brought us together. Unfortunately, our friendship didn’t last long and within a year he was back to trying to fit in with my brother and Ryan.

The wake was hard. My grandma only had four grandkids, and people have always told us that we were so important to her. The grandkids were in the line of people that people expressed their condolences to. For hours there was a constant stream of people hugging us and telling us that my grandma was the kindest person they had ever met.

“Your grandma Jane never had a bad thought, she was so very kind.” One man told us. 

The funeral was harder. The service was beautiful. The funeral was held December 22nd. The priest spoke about how it is so weird that we were going through a hard-time losing a loved one, and the rest of the world was listening to Christmas music and celebrating.

Christmas that year was somber. Christmas eve was held at my great aunt’s house instead of at my grandma and grandpa’s house. Everybody was a little less cheery on Christmas than normal. I was given my grandma’s diamond earrings, which I vowed to save for my wedding day. Normally, my grandma got me lots of gifts that she put a lot of thought into. I never disliked a gift from her. She spoiled me and I loved all of it. That year my grandpa gave my cousins and I a check. Of course I was grateful for the money, but I missed the thoughtful gifts from my grandma.
I learned a lot from that experience. I learned to cherish life, and everyone in it because you never know what can happen. My grandma was 64, we had no idea she would have a heart attack.  Her passing hit my family hard because she was so loved. No one had expected her to pass away. Everyday should be cherished because you never know which day will be your last.