Essay 4

I'm going to write a Family Story. I really liked the way "No Name Woman" was structured. I also have a pretty strong family background, so I think it will make for an interesting story. Throughout my young life I have felt that my family has defined me, but the past three years of living by myself has changed this thought.

September 11, 2001

The sound of forty tennis shoes hitting the gym floor was the only sound present. My coach always watched us during our cool down run, to make sure we weren't cheating. We were all focused on completing our twenty laps in record time, mainly so we could shower and put our make-up on before the next period. I passed my coach and yelled, "Ten more, ladies." The forty tennis shoes started to pick up quicker than before. We were almost finished with our eleventh lap when the principal walked in and took coach Yancey aside. It was obvious that we all wanted to yell, "umm," but we were too winded from running.

We had five laps to go when Coach Yancey yelled for us to stop. Her normal stern face looked scared. We all stopped and took a knee next to her. Her black eye liner was smeared underneath her eye, making it clear that she had been crying. "Girls, something terrible has just happened," she said. We were all huffing in puffing from the long run we just completed, but we were all trying to be as quiet as possible. "A plane has been hijacked and crashed into the twin towers," she said. "I'm not sure what is going on, but it isn't looking good."

We all went into the locker room and got dressed. Nobody was talking; I'm pretty sure none of us truly knew what was going on. We all waited by the door for the bell; however, no bell came. Instead, the principal came on announcing at least twenty names of students whose parents came to pick them up for the day.

A Simple Phone Call

"I have three missed calls from your mom," Jacob said, as I handed him a beer. It seems as if my mom always calls me when I first start drinking, it never fails. I ignored his comment and sat next to him. I threw my feet in his lap, with the hope that the conversation would end right there, and he wouldn't guilt me in to calling my mom. A foot rub is much better than talking to my mom, especially when I'm buzzed. Jacob slowly put his beer down, but left his hands at his sides. I wiggled my toes at him. He smiled, but this smile was forced. I put my feet down and sat up right, "What's wrong," I asked. "Man, we were having a great night, but I'm not going to be able to have a good time until you call your mom back, she called me three times Andrea," Jacob said.
"Give me your phone," I said. Jacob threw the phone to me as I walked past our tent. I walked about twenty feet away, but in the dark it seemed like a was a mile away from our campsite. As I dialed my mom and waited for her to answer, I was echoing what she was going to say. "Why didn't you call me when you got there." "I've been worried sick." "Quit thinking of yourself and call me back." Five rings passed and I was about to hang up and turn the phone off. This night was nearly perfect and I didn't need my mom to ruin it two hundred miles away. "Andrea," my mom yelled. "Andrea, are you there?" I put the phone back to my ear. "Mom, what's up," I asked. "Andrea, you have to call Rachelle, she's been trying so hard to get a hold of you," my mom said. "Her dad passed away last night, she found out a few hours ago." I hung up with my mom and threw the phone down. So many thoughts filled my head: How is Rachelle going to deal with this? We are too young to have our parents dying on us. This isn't fair, that's the only family Rachelle has left.
As I thought about how unfair everything was, I started to realize that I could fix one of the things that wasn't unfair; I could call my friend who has been trying to get a hold of me. I called Rachelle and I talked to her in the dark for about an hour. I stayed the same twenty feet away, but I knew I was safe because I could see Jacob's shadow by the fire. Rachelle and I talked about the past, I told her memories I had of her and dad. I told her that I'd help her through this horrible time. I told her that I loved her and I wish I could make the pain go away. I told her it wasn't fair that she had to go through this, especially only being twenty one years old. She cried and I cried. She told me that she'd be flying in from San Francisco in two days, so I promised I would meet her at the airport. When I got off the phone with her and told her that my phone would be by me no matter what, and I told her that I was sorry it was so hard to reach me. I put Jacob's phone deep in my pocket, where I knew it would be secure. I slowly walked back towards my camping chair. Jacob was reaching outward, grabbing my hand. I sat next to, he then grabbed my feet and started rubbing them. I started to say something, but he stopped me. He knew what happened, he heard me on the phone. We remained silent for what seemed forever. The only noise was the fire crackling. I decided to finally break the silence. "Baby, anytime I try and only think of myself, I end up screwing up," Jacob chuckled, "Well, quit only thinking of yourself," he said. Six words, five beers, and my best friend's dad dying is what it took to make me realize that if I help others out and I don't worry so much about myself, life will be a lot more meaningful.

A week has now passed since that night I went camping. Those six words have been echoing everyday since, and I hope it never stops.

Marley and Me

John stood outside, pacing up and down the street. He was hoping for the best, but knew the time had come deep within. His phone kept ringing every hour, he would answer and try and sound positive for his family. "Marley is doing everything he can," he said. "All we can do is pray." Putting he head against the cool, damp wall, John thought back to ten years ago, when Marley was just pup. The dog drove him crazy, but taught him so much about life. As John strolled down memory lane, the vet was inside, doing everything she could for Marley.

It didn't take long for the vet to realize that there was nothing she could do. She walked outside and grabbed John's sweaty hands. "It's time to say goodbye, he's ready to go," she said. John slowly walked through the vet's office, although it was a very small place, John made it seem like it was huge, taking the smallest steps, almost like a toddler. John entered the room to see Marley panting heavily. "Take as much time as you need," the vet said.

John stroked Marley as he talked to him. "You've been a great dog," John said. " You don't have to suffer anymore." He said his goodbyes and Marley licked John on the face, as if saying his last goodbye. John broke down, not in a way that most people think of breaking down, instead John was laughing with tears in his eyes. His memories strolled to all of the good times and he new that it was time to put Marley out of his misery.

John opened the door. "It's time," he said. The vet walked in and got the needle ready. "Will it hurt," John asked. "He won't feel a thing," she said. John held Marley's paw until all of the fluid exited the needle, within seconds the heavy pants had stopped.

"A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes. Status symbol means nothing to him. A waterlogged stick will do just fine. A dog judges others not by their color or creed or class but by who they are inside. A dog doesn't care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his. It was really quite simple, and yet we humans, so much wiser and more sophisticated, have always had trouble figuring out what really counts and what does not. As I wrote that farewell column to Marley, I realized it was all right there in front of us, if only we opened our eyes. Sometimes it took a dog with bad breath, worse manners, and pure intentions to help us see."

My Take on It

As we hugged goodbye I knew things were never going to be the same. No more advice. No more secrets. No more Anna.

Since she was six years older than me, I always looked up to her. She was gorgeous, guys were lined up to have a date with her and I was the tomboy with dirt on my face, never getting a second glance. When she left for a date, I would steal her clothes and put on her make-up, just to try to look as beautiful as she always did. When friends of mine would come over I wouldn’t show them my new Nintendo game, I’d take them to meet Anna.

As we got older our age gap seemed to disappear. She transformed from my big sister to my best friend. When I had a problem I knew I only had to walk ten feet to resolve it.

As we talked about different problems, she was always very honest. When I did something wrong she would tell me, but would always provide me with a plan to get things back to normal. She had a way to make me feel better about things and by the end of our conversation I would always feel happier than I did when we started our talk.

This all was about to change. I knew the second we let go of each other my best friend was gone. Instead of walking ten feet to get advice, I would have to talk to her on the phone, over 2000 miles away.

When we finally let go of each other I noticed tears in her eyes. It was clear that I wasn’t the only one hurting. She was the one leaving for California, leaving everything she grew up with behind. She was the one starting a new life, a life she has always dreamed about.

All of these years I thought the world revolved around me and my problems. I never stopped to think about how Anna might be feeling.

Pg. 46 #2

• Monday's were always the same at my workplace.
  
• I imagine that Aunt Janet was cleaning the house like she always did.
  
• It was unclear what she was thinking; perhaps she wasn't thinking at all.
  
• I'm not sure how the events unfolded; however, I do know the end result.
  
• As I looked him in the eye I could not tell what he was thinking. I want to believe he was trying to say 'I Love You'.
  

Pg. 22 #2

It was 5:00 A.M. and I could hardly keep my eyes open. The smell of lemon cleaner filled my room. "Are we really just now going to bed," I asked my boyfriend, Jacob. I got no response, the only thing i heard was my dog huffing and puffing. That's right, i forgot to bring his water bowl in the room. I had just got under the covers, I really didn't want to get back up, after all, I had just cleaned my entire room. I managed to transform my room from a beer-filled swimming pool, to a spotless nesting spot. It took me two hours, but it was totally worth it, to me and Jacob. I could now go to sleep without anything dirty on my mind and he could keep drinking while I cleaned.
Thirty minutes had passed and I still wasn't asleep. The huffing and puffing hasn't stopped and I'm about to give up and walk the twenty feet to get my poor dog some water. As I start to feel for the top of the cotton comforter that has me in a cocoon the other side of the bed starts moving. "Aww, Jacob, are you going to get Colby some water," I asked. "Jacob what are you doing?"
Jacob definitely wasn't getting Colby water. I guess he felt that I needed the watering. He puked all over me. I pushed him. This didn't help. I didn't care. I jumped in the shower and had no idea how to feel clean. When I got out I noticed Jacob hovered over the sink, hurling. "Jacob, the sink? Are you kidding me? You're less than a foot from the toilet," I yelled. "Do you have any respect?"
It is now 6:30 A.M.. Colby has water and is sound asleep. Jacob is laying on the couch with his body arched. I'm on the floor, scrubbing the lemon cleaner into the floor like it's my life's passion. Maybe it is. I've only been doing this for the past four hours.

"