P.U.S.H

Everybody has someone in their life that they care about deeply. In my life, that person is my grandma. She lived in Duluth, so I was able to see her quite often and I loved spending every moment I could with her. However, during my 8th grade year, my grandma’s health took a turn for the worst. She was diagnosed with a severe form of brain cancer. When my dad broke the news to me about my grandma’s health, I couldn’t grasp my mind around it. Up until that point in my life I’d never lost a family member and I didn’t know how to react. Since I didn’t fully comprehend the situation, I shrugged it off and didn’t think much of it. After conducting further tests, the doctor told my grandma that she only had 3-4 months to live, which would mean that she would be fortunate if she lived up until Christmas time. Since the doctor projected that she didn’t have much time to live, my dad and I went up to Duluth almost every weekend to spend time with her. One of my grandma’s true passions in life was cooking. She always cooked delicious meals and she loved putting smiles on the faces of her loved ones. Since her condition was worsening, she wasn’t able to get up and help in the kitchen. One time when I was at her house, my aunt was cooking in the kitchen, my grandma realized that she was cooking and tried to get up from a chair in the living room to help. But since her body was too weak, she slowly stood up and she began to wobble, so I then helped her sit back down in the chair. The disappointment on her face and the realization that she couldn’t do the things she was once able to do tore my heart apart. Because of this horrific disease, she wasn’t able to do the things she loved anymore. After seeing her becoming weaker and weaker, the thought that she was going to pass away soon began to enter my mind more and more. Since I was in 8th grade, I was going through the Confirmation process at my church. As I began to learn more and more about prayer, I began to pray routinely through the day. Since she was on my mind all day, it figured it was the least I could do. When Christmas passed that year, my grandma was still going through tough times, however she kept fighting. My family and I were amazed at how strong she was and the fact that she proved the doctor’s diagnosis wrong. My grandma ending up passing away that March, which meant that she lived three more months longer than what the doctor stated. Therefore, I believe in the power of prayer. Although I feel that the main reason why my grandma lived longer than projected was mainly her personal strength, I truly feel that my prayers did play and role and did help. I feel that God answered my prayers and allowed my grandma to spend three extra months with me. Going to her funeral was one of the hardest days in my entire life. We live in a society today where men showing emotions are seen as a weakness. That being said, I told myself that I wasn’t going to cry. However, one particular part of the funeral really got to me. The Pastor started reading memories aloud of my grandma, which I had written. Hearing my memories read aloud hit me like a ton of bricks and I completely lost it. During this moment I think that I fully grasped how important my grandma was to me and how much I loved her. After the funeral, I bought a bracelet that said P.U.S.H, which stands for Pray Until Something Happens. I keep this by my bed so it’s a constant reminder to me of how important it is to pray. Even to this day, I still believe that prayer is one of the most powerful things any person can do and I believe that it gave my grandma the power to keep on fighting and prove the doctor wrong.