Student/Teacher Essay

Joseph A.
Category: Grades 4-5 Elementary
Age: 9 / Grade: 4
Bay Elementary School
Point Washington, Florida
Teachers: Mrs. Lisa Burns & Mrs. Linda Young

Humor helped once, when my Grandmom died.

It started out that I was very, very excited because I was coming to my Dad’s house for the summer. For the first time, I was flying by myself! My dad was real excited to see me, too! But he had some sad news to tell me. My Grandmom (my dad’s mom) had died the night before I arrived. I was so sad when I heard that news.

Don’t worry-she didn’t die of a disease. She died of old age.

Whenever I think about my Grandmom, I remember that she always had these toy cars for me to play with in her living room. Sometimes, when I got there, we would bring her something special. She always looked amazingly happy. She would always say “Thank you so much!” The one important thing I will always miss about her is her smile – she always seemed so happy. I wondered what I would do since I would never see that smile ever again.

My Dad and I took some pictures of me and my Grandmom to the place where the funeral would be. The funeral was really sad. I sat in the front row, next to my Dad. We both cried more than half the time (maybe about 9/16).

Then, after the funeral, we all came out. We went to my Uncle Clif’s house. We played with a lot of stuff there, but it was nothing like Grandmom’s. Then, we started telling stories about Grandmom’s life. My Dad told stories about how she would get on him about how he kept his room because she could barely walk in there. He always told her, “I keep it that way so you’ll stay out of my room!” There were tons of stories like that from my Dad and my Uncles. We all laughed so hard that we ran out of breath and our sides hurt! I never heard most of these stories before, and it gave me some good ammunition to use against my Dad in the future!

Now, whenever I think about my Grandmom, I think about us sitting around the table laughing. I miss my Grandmom, but I know she is still looking out for me.

What have you ever done when one of your family members died?