Becoming Pro

A morning with Mel

*Beep Beep*

The alarm went off. This was it. The beginning of my morning. The part I hated but enjoyed the most. It was 6;30 in the morning and it was time for a morning jog. It seemed to be a cool foggy morning. Jack, my husky was getting up as well. He ALWAYS accompanied me. There was never a day he was absent from morning run. It was always him and I. Me and him. No one else but Jack and Mel. I made myself egg whites and drank a little bit of coffee. Two packs of sugar with creamer. Nothing else. I never really ate much in the morning. I didn't want my breakfast to slow me down. I needed to get my jog over with so I threw on some legging and my US jersey. I had all of them. All the ones you could think of. The collection started when my grandpa took me to my first ever women's game. He bought me my very first jersey. My Megan Rapinoe jersey. That was hundreds of years ago but that memory will always be cherished. I ALWAYS wear my US jersey to remind me of what I'm working for. To remind myself why I work so hard and who I do it for. It's the one thing I can put my head to. The one thing in my life I REALLY want to achieve. Jack and I went out the door and began our morning jog.

"Good Morning Mel!" my neighbor Jimena said "You running today too?" she asked.

"Yes Jimena, you know this. I run every morning!" I replied back with a giggle."You going to work?" I asked as I began to stretch my hammy. "Ya tu saves, a trabajar se a dicho" she replied. I loved having Jimena as my neighbor. She was hard working as well. She was an intern at a house selling company. I actually rented my apartment off of her company. It's funny how life works. We're both 22 year old women. She has her career and I'm working towards mine. Hopefully I'm able to conquer it soon. Jimena was a Mexican American. Just like me. She was a. very nice woman and a person I could really rely on. Jack liked her too. She always knew exactly where to scratch him. Jimena was running late like always so Jack and I decided to keep on jogging. My neighborhood wasn't bad. I lived in the mountains so the view was always really nice. My community was full of diversity and everyone really got along. My parents lived a five miles away from me and that was where I was headed to. My morning jogs weren't always to my parents house but I missed them. It felt like I Hadn't seen them in years. Jack and I were strolling along when we saw the road was closed. There was 5 cop cars and two ambulances. We didn't think much of it so we went a different direction.

Once we got to my parents' house, we looked for the spare key. It was always under the mat of the back entrance. We unlocked the door and jack quickly ran into the pool. H loved cooling off in the pool. As I began to reach for the door, I noticed the lights of the kitchen were off. It was unusual. My parents were always awake by 7. I slid open the slide door and called for them. "Mom? Dad? Is anyone home?" No one but coco, Jack's brother met us at the hall. I looked everywhere for a note but nothing. It was weird, my parents ALWAYS left a written note if they left their house. I decided to call them and nothing. I figured they were at work but I decided to call them anyway.

*Ring.... Ring...*

"I'm sorry, the person you are trying to reach right now is unavailable. Please leave a message after the tone. BEEP......"

Strange. My mom always answered the phone. I mean after all, she was her own boss at the vet. What could possibly be going on? I decided to call my dad next but the same thing happened. It wasn't new though. My dad never answered his phone. He was always busy performing surgery. My parents were hard workers.

I decided to get Jack and we jogged back home again. Something was going on. I could feel it. As we were jogging back home, the cop cars and ambulances were gone. Again, I didn't think much about it. We went all the way home and there they were. My parents were walking up to my apartment. They looked different. My dad didn't have the smile he carried with him every minute of every day and my mom, she walked with her head down. No one was talking.