Table of Contents Number of Entries The Write Stories .............................................................................1 The Write Poetry .............................................................................5 The Write "Stuff" .............................................................................1 Changes of Life
Section
The car collected $200 as it passed go. I could hear the car's engine zooming around the board. Well, I almost heard it. I was playing monopoly with my brother. I just stared at him thinking how great life is, how great spring break was going to be, and how great summer would be. I was absolutely loving life for the first time in a long time.
As you know monopoly is a long game. My family and I had about 5 or 6 hours till we had to go to the Northeast to my uncle's house for Passover dinner. My brother and I were excited because we were going to see our aunt's mother and son, whom we don't see too often. Monopoly was the best idea we had to keep us busy for all that time.
Unfortunately, we didn't get too far into Monopoly. When the phone rang it interrupted my second turn. I was sitting next to the phone, so I picked it up. I didn't even have a chance to finish saying hello before I heard my grandmother's voice. She said said sadly, "Elisa, put your mother on the phone." I could tell by her tone that something was wrong, so I handed the phone right to my mother. She didn't have to tell me what was wrong. In the short time they were on the phone, I put all the pieces together. My grandmother was at the Saunder's house (the nursing home my grandfather was in) visiting my grandfather. There was only one thing that would upset her that much. It was the one thing everyone dreaded.
My grandfather had passed away. He had been sick for a long time. As a matter of fact, he had been sick all my life. It wasn't until about 3 or 4 years ago that it became so serious. He has been in and out of the hospital over those last few years. My family and I visited him almost every day of every time he was in the hospital. Even though my family was expecting this, it struck us suddenly. My grandmother was with him when he passed away. She was hanging up the phone with my mother when she saw him take his last breath. She didn't know it was his last breath until after she turned back around and he wasn't breathing at all. She ran down the hallway to find a nurse. Once the nurse confirmed it, my grandmother got right on the phone to call my mom and uncle.
I had loved my grandfather dearly. I wanted everyone to know how much I loved my grandfather, so the night before the funeral I wrote something to say there. When I stood up to make the speech many of the funeral guests were surprised. Ever since I was little I had been a quiet, shy girl. I didn't actually talk much at all to anybody I didn't know very well. That had changed.
It's funny the way things work sometimes. The doctors predicted he wouldn't survive the weekend on Friday, March 2, 2001. My dad's birthday was March 5. My grandfather's birthday was March 30. My mom's birthday was April 1. My birthday was April 3. My grandparent's anniversary was April 4. My grandfather passed away Saturday, April 7, 2001, the first day of the ten days of spring break. It was amazing how he waited for all these birthdays including one last for him and one last anniversary with my grandmother to go by before he passed away.
My grandfather's passing affected more than friends and family. Four days before my grandfather passed away I finished my favorite class with my favorite teacher out of my ten years of school. This class was an introduction into acting. Not only does Miss Erb teach acting, but she has been in several plays and is a very good actress. When this class started I would stand up in front of my fellow classmates frozen, unable to get any words to come out. At the end of this class I still wasn't good at doing anything in front of people, but I had more confidence, and I didn't dread it as much. I wasn't that shy, quiet girl anymore.
When I try to remember as far back as I can I remember helping my grandfather walk to wherever he was trying to go. He was blind and had trouble with his legs, so he always needed help. This past summer before he went into the nursing home permanently I was too lazy to help him. I always pushed helping my grandfather onto my brother. After he passed away I was thinking about how selfish I was by not helping. I felt guilty, but there was nothing I could do to change what I had done. This is when I realized small things do matter in life.
These ten days were the hardest ten days of my life. My grandfather's funeral was three days after he passed away because Passover interfered. On Sunday, my parents, grandmother, uncle, and aunt made the arrangements for the funeral. Since the funeral was graveside, the immediate family was given a chance to see my grandfather one last time. Both my brother and I wanted to see my grandfather one last time, so the seven of us headed up to the funeral home. When I saw him it looked like he was bones covered by skin. He didn't look like the same guy who watched me grow my whole life. I was holding my brother when I noticed he looked a little pale, so I told my dad. My dad took him out side to get some fresh air, but on the way out I saw him fall to the ground. He had been so upset over my grandfather he fainted. We spent the night of the funeral and the next two day sitting Shiva, the customary seven-day Jewish mourning period. The next four days we spent trying to start getting use to not visiting him in the nursing home or hospital. Every time I walked into my grandmother's house I walk over to the chair he sat in all the time, but he isn't there.
I had survived the entire spring break and I was glad to be back in school. As glad as I was to be back in school, I wasn't happy. I know it is normal to be sad when someone close to you passes away, but I was upset about something else, also. All my friends told me how sorry they were to hear about my grandfather, but that didn't make me feel better. I told my best friend Renee about how Miss Erb helped me. As I was telling Renee about how Miss Erb helped me I realized I was telling the wrong person. I should be telling Miss Erb how I felt.
This day is one I will never forget. Miss Erb's first block was next door to my first block class. I walked in the classroom and asked to speak to her privately. I told her about my grandfather. I told her about the speech and how I couldn't have done it if she hadn't taught theater as well as she did. As I told this to Miss Erb I could feel the wet tears falling down my face. Her eyes were filled with tears. She looked like she was about to cry. When I looked at her face I could tell she understood what I was telling her. She told me how much this meant to her.
I didn't know if Miss Erb would care or not that she helped me, but it was worth it to take a chance. One thing I learned from my grandfather's passing was that little things do matter in life. This was a little chance to take, but since she did care it became bigger than I had thought. Everytime I see Miss Erb I think of the wonderful man my grandfather was. I will always be grateful for her help. I will never forget her.
In Loving Memory of David Daroff: (1925-2001).
Elisa Berman
age 15
scoobygirl0403@aol.com
THE WRITE POETRY
White smoke in night air,
Bright colors reflect in snow.
Peace and goodwill live.
~flayorker123@prodigy.net
A Deep Hurt
An aching yearning,
Not knowing what will happen next.
Fate in the hands of whomever aims to control others.
Friends and tyrants intermingled,
The two words could be synonyms.
Like shape-shifters,
Someone can suddenly be who he or she was not,
Only a short time ago.
Double-headed,
People are not good at heart.
Many say they are,
Although the truth is apparent.
The few good souls in the world are evanescent
Constantly searching for one another
Through a facade of smiling faces.
The world is vicious,
Just looking to devour its next prey.
Its bait is kindnessfriendship.
As its victims relax in the lazy comfort of trust,
The beastly world severs the bond of friendship
Enjoying the taste of its preys desolate heart.
~Ai87
Sleep, My Children
Sleep, My Children, sleep
Put to silence all your weeps
Your soul's been prayed to keep
The lambs will take their leap.
Shut your blinded eyes
Close your mouths to lies
Your wicked demon flies
To the dark and empty skies.
Let flaming virtue spread
From the toes and to the head
Of all unempty beds
Pure white on blacks and reds.
Evil spirits play
Away from where you lay
Dreams show you the way
Keeping them at bay.
One light nears the sky,
And back to you
Your demons fly,
For night you cannot keep
Into it darkness seeps
Lone light lies a heap
Where you sleep, My Children, sleep.
~-Amethyst soul/madra
"How"
How could I forget you,
The woman in my dreams.
How could I go without,
Never it now seems.
How could I forget your smile,
How it makes me smile, too?
How could I forget your eyes,
How they always seem to say I love you?
How would I live a life,
Without you holding my hand?
How would I walk so many days,
Without you there to help me stand?
How should I move on,
When you are the only girl I love?
How should I fly alone,
Without my eternally beautiful dove?
How can I stay on this beautiful trip,
Without you there to guide me?
How can I walk these hills and mountains,
Without you there to help me see?
How could I live without you,
Because I don't want anyone else, can't you see,
How could I keep my world of happiness.
Without you here with me?
How would I ever,
Live without you, my love?
Our saying good-bye forever,
Is just unthinkable and undreamable.
~Troyae16
Yesterday
Childhood was knocking on my door
I can't catch that innocence anymore
Now, as a young woman, I've become wiser
In this world, there's no time to be nice
Maybe that's why I'll always be in the dust
Left to rust in a pile of rubble
Being nice only leads to trouble
Yesterday, I trusted
Today, I fear
~Sailornikki
THE WRITE "STUFF"
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