Faith

It's no secret that a lot of things have happened in my life in the past two years. In 06 alone, I lost four people that were very close to me either by a car accident or illness. It all started in February of 06. I'll never forget this. I was in my bedroom working on some homework when my mom knocks on my door. I get up casually and open the door. I'll never forget what she said. "Honey, you may want to sit down." I could tell by the tone of her voice that something was very wrong. I asked her what this was about and her words to be were, "Braden was in a really bad accident. He died." Braden Bowers is a boy that I went to elementary school with and I was good friends with his older sister, Shannon. His mother, Janie, was my principal and is still considered a mother to me. Braden was involved in a very serious car accident when a van veered in his lane, forcing him into the westbound lanes of I10. He was going eastbound on his way back to school. A car traveling westbound didn't see him in time and he was in a head-on collision. His funeral was very rough.

Not two months later, a man whom I consider to be my grandfather died. He was in his 90's. I couldn't go to his funeral because I had class. I never really got closure for that.

You would think that this would be enough for one lifetime, right? Wrong. In the summer of 06, I started having health problems (and still am dealing with that as well). The doctors were baffled. I went through test after test after test. Finally, just guessing, my doctor diagnosed that it's my gallbladder and I got it removed. Well, that didn't stop. I started feeling bad soon after surgery. My internal medicine doctor sent me to get a colonoscopy and an endoscopy done. Still, it came back with nothing. My parents now think it's in my mind. Well, it's not. Because I'm still experiencing trouble.

Fall came around and I remember it was a really rainy day. I called my mom and she sounded really upset. I asked her what was wrong and she told me that Dwight Cranford had died. Dwight was a very good friend of the family that sang in the choir. He died in that UPS truck driver accident that happened on 49 south near Jerry's. I went through his funeral and it was rough too.

Okay, so it's now December. You would think that now everything would be okay. Again, wrong. We had a parakeet named Buddy. He was the sweetest little thing in the world. We watch WLBT at night and every time the tune for the news report came on, he'd chirp loudly with it. One Saturday morning, he wasn't looking good. So, my mother took him to the vet. He died soon after. He had an acute respiratory infection. And then, 07 came around.

My faith grew so much during all of this. The year of 2006 was just horrible. It was a very unlucky year for me. I'm not superstitious by any means but could this have been 06-06-06? Could that have been why these bad things were happening to me? I mean, after all, my mother went through all of the same things that I went through. My best friend Jamie went through her own trials and tribulations. I knew that if I stayed strong and had the faith that God would help me through this, everything would be okay. And I was right. Things have gotten better with the exception of my father being diagnosed with Diabetes. I will continue to trust that God will protect me and my family. I hope you will trust in God also.