Grandpa’s Illness Essays -- Personal Narrative Writing

Grandpas IllnessAs usual I woke up to the sound of my father pounding on my bedroom door, hollering, Get up Get on your feet Youre burning daylight I met my brother in the h in allway, and we took our time making it down the stairs, passive waking up from last nights sleep. As we made our way to the kitchen, I thought about what to have for breakfast fried eggs, pancakes, an omelet, or maybe just some cereal. I started to get hungry. As usual, mom and dad were waiting in the kitchen. Mom was ready to cook whatever we could all agree on, and dad was sitting at the table watching the news. The conversation went as usual, Good morning. How are you today?Then the phone rang and Dad answered it. It was touchy to tell what the conversation was about, it did not last long and Dad didnt say much. When he hung up he was quiet. Then Mom asked, Who was that, honey? mute and to the point he said, Grandma, (his mom) Grandpa got sick last night. Suddenly I was not hungry any more than. Whats that mean? Mom asked, taking the linguistic process right out of my mouth. Dad did not really know. All Grandma said was that Grandpa got up in the night, went to the bathroom, and then yelled for help originally collapsing. She called 911 and an ambulance came and got him. From the hospital in Spirit Lake he was life-flighted to Sioux Falls. During the drive to Sioux Falls all I could think about were all the happy times spent at Grandmas and Grandpas lake house on West Okoboji. I thought about how Grandpa would entertain all of his grandkids in the travel boat and then take us back to the house for a beer. All that was changing, there would probably be no more speed boating and no more beer. When my family and I arrived at the hospital we ru... ... a smile came across his face, a smile that for three weeks, I thought I was neer going to see again. Unfortunately, his struggle with alcohol was just beginning. To this day he attends AA meetings and is doing great. The days of sp eed boating have continued, but there is no more beer drinking. For his grandkids, not much has really changed, except Grandpas health has improved. He has more energy and a better outlook on life. I think the experience helped him realize that his motto Quality over Quantity is not concrete and that there needs to be a balance between the two. We cannot get by on just the pleasures in life because it isnt fair to our loved ones we have to compromise and make sacrifices in order to bear our health.Works CitedQuoteland.com. All the Right Words. 1997-2001. 30 Sept. 2003.