Final Draft

I just got home around 9:30. Mr. Brownrigg had given driven me back to my house after our game. Fluvanna's Junior Varsity team had just destroyed our Junior Varsity Soccer team, which I was a player on. The score was zero to six. I was disappointed because I thought that I did not play well. I came into the house feeling frustrated and humiliated. My grandfather and grandmother, who were visiting from Royal Oak Michigan, were standing in the hallway when I walked in. As i looked into the room next to the kitchen i saw my mom was on the phone at the computer. Everyone, except my mom, was in the kitchen standing around. Dad, Kaitlyn and my dog were standing around. “What’s going on...Why was everyone down here?” My mom was speaking rather loudly as if she were nervous or anxious. I thought, “Oh maybe dinner was almost done”, but I did not smell anything cooking. My grandpa looked at me and asked me how the game went. I told him how it went and my grandma assumed that I played perfectly fine and that I did my best. I finally got the courage to ask what was going on. My dad walked towards me and told me that my other Grandpa, who was currently in Arizona, has a bloated artery. I burst of shock and Goosebumps fled down my spine as I assumed the worst. He told me that everything was fine and that he was in the hospital right now having surgery to deflate the artery. He reassured me saying that there was a very high percentage of the surgery going perfectly fine. I felt better but was still uneasy. It was already late and my grandmother told me to go take a shower and go up to bed. Tomorrow was the last day before Spring Break and there were a lot of parties and movies to be observed at school. I was most excited for my Spanish. Senora Tuggle always did have the best Fiestas. I went to bed but made sure to pray. I knelt by my bed and spoke to god for almost ten minutes. I fell asleep soon after, but I would not be sleeping for long.
At two in the morning, I was awoken by the screams of my mother downstairs. I woke and knew instantly what had happened. I grabbed my pillow and shoved it in my face, rupturing into tears. “How could this happen to me? Why did this happen to me?” These to phrases were slamming back and forth on the inside of my head. I sat in my bed with my face and pillow drenched with my own tears. My grandparents in the next room came into my room and hugged me tight as we all wept. I could still hear my mom as her cries of agony were echoing through our hallways. Then my sister, wondering what is going on, emerges out of her room. She looks into my room, we make eye contact, and she runs back into her room. Her tears are almost as loud as my moms are. After the crying and weeping we all went to bed again, I knew none of us were sleeping, and that each of us were drenching our pillows with our tears.
I woke up in the morning and came downstairs, wishing last night had been a nightmare. It was no nightmare though. I did not even eat breakfast that morning. My sister skipped school that day. However, I would continue on to school, concealing my tears. I got to school and waited almost half the day before going to the bathroom to cry. Then I got to fourth period class. Band was the class that I had all my friends’ in. My best friend Nick Kalinsky, who I had known since fourth grade, played baritone in that class. I saw him and he was sitting next to his girlfriend. I sat next to him because Mr. Tornello let us have the day off. I told him what happened and nick cursed aloud, walking into the corner of the band room. He knows everyone of my family members and he knew my grandpa really well. I was silent for the rest of the day. Even during the fiesta that I was looking forward to. My day ruined because my Grandfather, Robert Marcell, age 67, had died of a heart attack after surgery. I thought the rest of the day. At night, I do not think I slept.
All of my Spring Break would be spent in Iron River Michigan, my passed grandpa’s hometown. Everyone in my family was there, even ones I did not know. The day of the funeral, was heart breaking. I composed my own version of Amazing Grace for trumpet and played it at his funeral. I did not miss a note, and I did not mess up anything. It was almost as if saw him in the crowd, so I did not feel as bad. After all the funeral things were set we traveled back home to Virginia, so I could make the Jefferson Forrest game. Jefferson Forrest was the best JV team in their district. Each of their players was as big as all of our Varsity Players. That game I scored the game winning goal with 4 minutes left to go. We won the game with score ending at two to one. I knew my grandfather would have been proud.
The last time I saw him I was half-asleep from staying up all night at Nick’s birthday party on New Years Eve. Two or Three months later, I spoke to him on the phone and was able to tell him I made Junior Varsity Soccer at Charlottesville High School as an eight grader. The last thing is said was, “Goodbye Grandpa” and “I love you.”