My mother always said “Cherish your love ones and try and spend as much time with them as possible because they are not always gonna be there.” One time I was complaining about going to my grandparents’ house every weekend but then my dad said, “Enjoy the time you have with them because they will not always be alive.” He was kind of angry when he said this and it kind of made me think that he is right, but I still didn’t really understand. It wasn’t until I was older did I realize that death is a hard thing to deal with. In 7th grade we had gone down to Trinidad for my grandfather's funeral, we called him ‘dads’. I always complained about staying at his house in Diego Martin Trinidad because is was so hot and it had no AC. On top of that I was very far away from my cousins. When I went down for his funeral I really didn’t have any feelings about what had happened, I was sad but it didn’t really affect me. I had gone to the funeral and I had seen family that I had never seen before, most wearing sunglasses to hide crying because it was a really sad time. Towards the end of the funeral all immediate family was asked to hold hands in a circle around the coffin and as I was holding hands with my relatives, the lyrics of the song ‘All I Ask of You’ started playing, the song got me at the part where it went, “All I ask of you is for ever to remember as loving you”, and it made me remind myself of all the great times I had had with dads, like when we were down on the land planting trees, I had to use the bathroom really bad and so I did and then he said to use a leaf to wipe up, it was funny but it also taught me a lesson of survival. Things of that sort but I also remember being eager to leave his house and I hated being there. I realized I never cherished and never was grateful for the times we had and thinking about that just made me burst into tears at the funeral it was just so sad, they just wouldn't stop running down my face, I was so mad at myself for not being grateful for the times I had with him.

I believe that we should cherish the moments we have with people while they are still alive and remember the good memories because those will never go away and they will be with you forever. Even though death is sad doing this will bring joy to you in a way. Never take anyone for granted because sometimes you will be mad at yourself and you will miss them more.