Adaptability

This story comes from the mind of a now 14 year old, who just started her first year of high school, and its been over five years since she has been to a public school, so this is all so new to her. All throughout life, things have to change and will change, some more drastic then others. A great quote that expresses this is by Atul Purohit "Life is about trusting your feelings and taking chances, losing and finding happiness, appreciating the memories, and learning from the past, and realizing people change".
When she was eight years old the worst news ever had come up. She and her family went out to go get dinner, it was a normal night. Once everybody was done the big change had come up, it's the worst news an eight year could ever possibly hear. Her dad had cancer, all she knew about it was from people saying that someone they knew died from it so she only thought of the worst. She was so young that all she could remember was that few seconds of that day, she remembers where she was sitting and sometimes she replays that moment in her mind. It was up and down hill from there, a roller coaster of emotions and health. There were weeks and maybe even months that he was happy and healthy, it was never the same day to day. She didn't know what to do, she had to just go with all the changes that were happening around her.
Some days she wondered if this was the end, but most of the time he pulled through. He was the strongest man she ever knew and the kindest, most loving person. When doctors told him not to do things, he would ignore them to help her. Her dad had to stop working because of his health, so she and her mom had to change the office into a bedroom for him, because he couldn't get up the stairs. Then when she was only in third grade and she was already getting herself up and ready for school, some days she had to wake up her own mother to take her to school so she wouldn't be late. Her dad had become the person who needed the most help now; he used to help her, but now she's helping him. She saw her mom wake up in the middle of the night or even at the crack of dawn so check on him. She remembers hearing her mom come downstairs from her room just to check on him to make sure he was okay.
She saw the house fill up with medical equipment and people came by daily to watch and help him. In the living room there were two air pumps so he could breathe, the light humming of the machines still ring in the back of her head, the worse he got the more stuff entered the house. She remembers all the times they went out to do anything, the frantic mess to make sure we had a key to unlock an air canister. She had to use all her might to open the valve on the canister so he could breathe. She was stronger than her dad would ever be again.
As time wore on, she saw him get sicker and sicker, soon not being able to leave his bed. She had to learn to do more and more to help her mom and dad. It started with her getting herself ready in the morning, then it changed from, him doing dishes to her doing dishes, she even had to take on some of her mom's responsibilities, like having to start doing the laundry, sometimes she would even cook herself dinner. She knew that they weren't doing any of this on purpose, her dad was sick and her mom had to take care of him. She remembers the drives to the hospital and she can point out every single one he had been in. After school almost every single day she and her mom going to visit him and bring him good food, when ever she was there he always made sure to have two containers of pudding; one for her and one for him. Early morning chemo she had to go to so she could make it to school on time, and most importantly, to spend more time with her dad. She had learned that all she can do at this moment is to continue going with the flow, she knew she couldn't fix him so she did what she could to help.
She saw his health greatly decline and his spirit also declined. Her dad had been battling cancer for about a year; during that time he had pulled through on one round a lung cancer and many rounds of pneumonia, she remembers the days that she would see him coughing up blood, she tried to do as much as possible to help him to feel better. (She even pulled out a toy doctor kit to do check ups on him, she wanted him to stay happy and healthy.) A couple of months went by and he was healthy, but the cancer relapsed. She saw him less and less, he spent a lot of his time in the hospital. Eventually something even worse happened, it had spread to his brain. He moved back home to spend time with them. Mom had decided to sign him up for home to go into hospice care, they had to wait for a room to open, that meant that when he got a room, someone died. A room opened up and she had come home from school to see that he wasn't there anymore, her grandfather was there because he couldn't be left alone, he told her dad got moved into hospice. Hospice is a place where people go to live there for the last few months. They take care of them, but don't pressure anybody take their meds, so they can live there with no stress and no pain. She and her mom visited him every day. He seemed happy to her for the first few days, but he went downhill from there.
She remembers going in to visit him one day and he couldn't open his eyes. He hadn't eaten for a few days ether, she joked about bringing him a can of Pringle's because they were one of his favorite snacks, and he had a faint smile on his face. They knew he was still there. They told him they would be okay if he left us. It was one of the hardest things to say, but they knew it was best for him and they knew they would all be okay. The next day when she and her mother were getting ready so they could go to school and work, and she got a call that he had passed away that night. It was the hardest thing to hear, they cried for hours. She always knew that he wouldn't be there to much longer, she thought back to when she asked him what does he want to live till, and he wanted to see her get married. Now he has the best seat to see her life play out. She loved him so very much and will forever.
   
             I remember seeing him all throughout this time things changed and had to change. When he got sick I had to grow up quicker than most kids my age. Instead of parents waking you up in the morning I had to do it for myself, I got myself out the door in the morning. Since dad needed all the help I was left to work on things by myself, so I needed to find times that worked for others, and not just myself. Most nights my mom was tired from taking care of my dad, and he didn't feel well most days. So I tried to ask for help when I was in school for help with homework. I had to learn how to do things around the house so I could help my parents, like doing the dishes and laundry. I still needed them some times and they always helped my when I needed it. It was the worst thing a child should ever have to go through. Life changes, my life did at a very young age, I had to change too.  Even though it was so bad, it has taught me so many things, because everything happens for a reason.
  -Spend as much time with the people you love as possible.