Coming of Age Essay

Its a great day. The sky is blue, sun is shining, and I just finished a refreshing swim in my pool. Feeling like nothing could go wrong in the world, I hear the phone ring. I'm drying off and I hear my mom answer the phone. I see her walk into the hallway as her content face suddenly turns frantic, and she drops to the ground with tears streaming down her face. My Uncle Andre has passed and the whole family is devasted. He is only 36.

My whole family is shocked and wondering what happened to this 6'3" 260 pound avid fisherman? I walk around in a daze wondering "How could this happen? He appeared invincible, I thought he would be here forever...". My mom is a mess, being that she grew up with my Uncle and they always shared their problems between each other. I feel like I should try to hold back my tears and act like a rock. However my emotions get the better of me and I begin to cry like I've never cried before.

After letting it all out, I begin to comfort my mom being that its such a hard time for her. Within a week, we learned that he died in his sleep and the funeral will happen soon. The next few weeks was not the same at all. It was such a somber enviornment and no one was able to accept that such a young man was gone. After things had settled down a bit, we got ready for the funeral and took the flight to Kona.

The funeral was held at honokahau harbor. This was decided because of my Uncles love for the ocean. When at the funeral there were speeches from family members and peaceful hawaiian music being played. My Uncle Franz played a special song at the funeral which was Fire and Rain by James Taylor. My Uncle Franz said that everytime we had a party my Uncle Andre would say: "Eh Uncle, play Fire and Rain!". He would keep bugging him until he finally gave in and played it. Throughout the song, tears were flowing and we barely got to the end. It seemed like the day went by like a blur.

After a few months the sadness faded, but no one forgot the happy-go-lucky man who always lit up the room with his laugh. After the experience I realized that we should never take anyone or anything for granted because one day it might not be there. Through this experience I have definitely grown stronger and I appreciate everything and everyone in my life.