Stella Hamann In life, every person will experience their own hardships whether it be in their years of youth or elderly years. But, the fact is, that whenever one endures hardships, they are difficult to recover from, no matter the time of experiencing it. I went through one of the worst hardships I have experienced two years ago. In January of 2018, I discovered that my cousin, Ariana, had been diagnosed with cancer. It was a heavy weight on my shoulders because I had never experienced a situation like that. My whole family had just broken down after she was diagnosed. My father, especially, was hit the hardest. Ari was only seven years old and the thought of her dying at such a young age was never even something that anyone had thought of. At such a young age, it never even occurs to anybody to be dying of cancer. It was believed to be unreal, crazy how one’s life can change so incredibly quick. Persevering was tough in this situation, for everybody in the family. After she passed in May of 2018, it was hard to focus, hard to love, and hard to understand. But, we continued on. It was not easy nor will it ever get easier. Throughout the duration of such a difficult time, I learned to always be grateful for what I have. Before she passed, I never really took the time to appreciate everybody in my life who I love and who love me greatly. As humans living through life, death is always going to make life difficult. It will be a struggle to move on, but everyone must do it. Instead of always
thinking about the sad side of the situation, I have learned to think about Ari in a happy way. Instead of thinking of how sad and difficult her death was, I think about what I can now do to make her happy and to praise her. I think of how awesome she must be feeling in Heaven, free of pain or stress. I believe my family and I had a successful recovery. We now really emphasize gratitude in our daily lives. We have learned to be even more grateful that the rest of us are in health, and are forever grateful that her death has brought us closer. Ari showed us how to love and taught us what it really feels like to be grateful for each other. In conclusion, the death of a loved one is no where near easy. But, to persist and move on, we must stay strong and continue to be even more grateful for our loved ones. We never know what may happen, anything may come unexpected, like what happened to Ari. Life can pass you by in an instant, so it is always important to cherish every possible moment you have with your loved ones.
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