❦ Angelica's life❦

Chapter 11

The flight went by fast and being in the middle wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I called my grandpa and everyone else to let them know I landed safe and was headed to baggage claim.

Once I could see my grandpa he gave me a hug and helped me with my bag. He looked so much different than I remembered. His skin was grey coloured and his cheeks were sunken in and not full like they normally were. I hated to see him looking so sick like that.

"Hey charbear ready to head out of here." My grandpa calls as we head to the car outside.

"Yep, I can't wait to see everyone." I tell him as I put everything in the car and head home.
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The next morning he had his transfusion and looked better with the color back in his skin. We were going to spend time with my cousin Carl and a friend from my grandparents church. We went to Cabela's and I had fun looking at the animals displays all over and the guns.

It was a lot of fun spending time with him and going out for food to bring home to grandma and the rest of the family that was there.
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A few weeks had gone by and I was staying at my Aunt Cindy's for a few days. We had spent the day at a beach near their house and went up the little lighthouse that was there. I had fun collecting sea shells and looking at the crabs and sea urchins. I even found a little star fish under a rock.

We had a ton of fun hanging out and watching movies. I even met a few new friends at the church my cousins went to. In a couple days my brother Adam was going to be visiting and we were planning on places to go site see.

We decided we go see the Space Needle and the curiosity shop. We would take the monorail to see Pike Place market, the gum wall, and the original Starbucks before going to take the underground tour of Seattle. We also went to the top of the Columbia tower and saw the entire Seattle skyline it was awesome, and went to see the Seattle library which had 3 different floors. I never seen so many books.
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The curiosity shop was something I'd never get used to. It was a little creepy at some of the things they had like a 2 headed duck, 2 mummies in glass,shrunken heads, a mermaid hanging from the ceiling, and that's not all of it. They had so many things in that tiny shop you probably could get lost.
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Pike Place was awesome. It's just one huge farmers market. They have so many little shops selling from jewelry to the men who throw fish. It was crazy how they would throw huge fish around and catch it without ever dropping them. We even saw the famous Rachel the piggie bank.

The gum wall was in a lower part of the farmers market and was both interesting and gross at the same time. Interesting that the gum was still there for so long but gross well because it was a ton of chewed up gum that hundreds of people put on the walls. Of course Adam had to put gum on the wall to.
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We finally took the monorail to take the underground tour of Seattle after stopping to get some squeaky cheese and see the original Starbucks that was built.

The tour was pretty awesome going through the tunnels and under sidewalks learning about the history of Seattle before the great fire that accrued. We headed to the Seattle library after the tour was over and went to another building looking out over all of Seattle before heading back home.

Grandpa had been sick and was in the hospital again for a few days. It was so hard seeing him lying there not being able to do anything for him. I had called my dad to tell them he wasn't doing good and he should visit as soon as he could. The doctors had put him on three days of transfusions a week he was doing so bad. The good thing was he had passed a whole month longer than the doctor originally said he would live.
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Adam and I went to see my uncle Doug and my cousin Aaron with his two kids. We were going to go hiking the Lake Serene trail which took us to a huge lake on top of the mountain. The hike was crazy going up the mountain especially when you passed through the waterfalls which made it slippery.

The falls were beautiful and the hike was straining on my legs. We rested half way up the mountain by a waterfall before heading back up the mountain the rest of the way was worse with the stairs and switch backs you had to climb. The view up the mountain was beautiful and you would never know how high up you were.

Finally after what seemed like hours of torture on my legs we were at the top of the mountain at the lake which was still frozen over. We all sat down on the big rock at the top eating our lunch before heading back all the way down again. Once in my uncle's car I was glad to sit down and fell fast asleep not knowing how tired I was until we were at home.
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Adam had flown back home and I still a few more days left till I flew back. I had spent my last few days with my grandparents and getting a few mementos to keep from them. My grandma gave me a necklace and one of her teapots while my grandpa gave me a bible, a pin, and the painted whale tooth that sat on his office desk.

I hated saying goodbye to them knowing I would never see them until we were in heaven together. It was bitter sweet leaving my grandparents behind and my family in Seattle.
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It had been a few weeks later after I had left my grandparents and my parents were visiting them when one morning I get a text from my mom.

Mom
Hi sweetheart. I wanted to tell everyone about grandpa. He passed away last night in his sleep. He loved you all so much. He wouldn't want us to be sad but think of the memories of him. Love you tell everyone else for me.

I was so heartbroken he had passed away, but glad that it was in his sleep. I missed him so much and was glad I saw him one last time. I soon told everyone and they all came over to cheer me up and talk about the memories of my grandpa.
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Hope you like this chapter as well it's sad but good memories of my grandpa. He was in his late 70s so chemo wouldn't of helped. The doctors decided on the blood transfusions which did help him out with having energy but he would get tired fast in between sessions. This was my personal experience so I know not everyone goes through leukemia the same way.

Anyway I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it. I might be off a little on my details of Seattle but I was going on memory so don't take it to hard. I love Seattle tho it's a beautiful and great place to visit.