my grandmother had cancer

the first and final chapter

my grandmother had cancer. they've told me the technological term dozens of times but i never remember. it's all the same to me. she was diagnosed and 4 months later she died. it's weird how it works, i saw her once in those months and said goodbye. i didn't know it was our final goodbye then. i was in 2nd grade and she passed a week later. they lived in another state so my mom and her brother stayed with their dad, taking turns sleeping in her room. my grandfather was in the room the night she went. the fact is almost bittersweet. highschool sweethearts, got married young and had two kids, lived in the suburbs of Apple Valley, Minnesota. the picture perfect family. i was doing homework with my dad and sister when my mom called. i didn't hear the actual words but i was close enough that i could hear her tone, the tears, the sobs she was holding back. i heard it and i started crying. my big sister realized and started crying. i never realized it was goodbye until she left. my best friend, gone. just like that. i still don't remember the technological term. cancer is such a broad killer but a killer nonetheless. i say cancer and people know. it could've been anywhere in her small body but she's still gone. god her body was tiny. she was such an expensive woman. shopped in the petite sections, had a wig when she went through chemo that was the exact same as her own hair. she just got smaller and smaller. i miss her.