Loss

It started out a normal day in Ellicott City, Maryland for me, a nine-year-old bespectacled fourth-grade moppet. Even with my heavy blue Gap jacket, I was rather cold since it was early in December and my teacher liked to keep the classroom cold at all times. My classmates were shivering, even my friend Samantha, whose jacket was made of enough faux furs for twelve Russian mobsters' girlfriends.

I couldn't wait to get out of school that day. I was trying not to let myself drift off into a cold-induced slumber, as I yawned loudly. We were just about to get out for lunch when the intercom shrieked, "Please report to the front office immediately!" I knew I was in trouble for sure.

I sat down in the office's waiting room chairs. The principal walked up to me and told me that I was not in trouble. "Your mother will arrive for you in a few minutes". I didn't know what was happening. Soon enough, my mother's blue SUV pulled up to the parking lot. Mom came out of the car, eyes red. Was she crying? "Mom, what happened?" I said. "I'll tell you when we get home. Your father's waiting." Luckily, we lived quite close to the school. My father was home, looking rather upset. He gave me a hug and told me loved me and had to give me some bad news. Then he told me that my great grandmother, GG had passed away in her sleep last night. I felt very sad as tears ran down my face. Dad told me not to worry because she had a long, full life and was loved by many. Then, I remembered one of the stories that she had told me. It was when my dad was a little boy, she used to baby-sit him. If he behaved well, he would get a Hot Wheels car.

One day, he went to the hairdresser with her. She was under the dryer and Dad, as most four-year-olds do, get bored. So, he decided to take a walk in downtown Attleboro. About ten minutes went by when she realized little Keith was missing. She ran outside, hair in rollers, plastic cape still draped round her shoulders, frantically she ran down the block. There, she found him, speaking to a police officer. He said, he just wanted to stretch his legs. Dad certainly did not get his Hot Wheels that day, but he had a loving memory that she told me when I visited Massachusetts one cold December. I'll never forget the love in her voice when she told that story.