the sophomore year from hell.

Sophomore year of high school was hands down the most difficult time I’ve faced in my life.  Aside from the fact school was getting more challenging, within a month of each other my grandfather died and I got mono.

         My Papa and I were extremely close.  He was in a nursing home so he got bored very often which led to us talking on the phone 3-4 times a day.  At the time I would complain about it because I thought it was annoying.  I never knew that one day I’d give anything for him to call me, even just once.  I got the phone call that he was going as I was on my way home from my first prom that I was asked to.  My mom got on the phone and said that Papa was very sick and wasn’t going to make it through the night. After such a great night, this was the last thing I was expecting to hear.  She asked if I wanted to come to the hospital but I’m extremely emotional about that stuff so I declined.  My mom accepted this because she knew how hard it would be, but she put Papa on the phone.  He told me that one day, we’d have our own prom together.  I will never forget that phone call. 

         I didn’t go to school for like 2 weeks after this because it was so hard for me to even get out of my bed, I was an emotional wreck.  When my friends finally got me to go out again, we went to the movies.  I got my favorite blue icee and we all sat down.  My friend had a sip of my drink but failed to mention they just got over mono.  So by the transitive property, this chick got mono.  I was out of school for another week and a half which obviously led to horrible grades.

         At first I thought there was no way to get over either of these events.  Then I realized that by staying home, not leaving my bed and sometimes not eating for days at a time was going to accomplish nothing.  My Papa was gone, I had mono, and there was no way to reverse these events.  It killed me inside when I had to face the facts that I couldn’t be sad anymore, but I knew everything would be okay with help from my family and friends.  To this day I cry thinking about that night, I even cried writing this paper… my roommate thinks I’m a nutcase sitting here with my headphones in crying.  But all in all, I learned that when you surround yourself with people who love and support you, anything is possible.