Story Of My Life

The Story Of My Life

I was born on July 25, 1995 at 2:33pm on one of the hottest days in Cleveland that year and broke the record for that day.  I was an only child for 2 years until my mom gave birth to my younger brother Nick in 1997. In February of 1997 we bought a dog and named him MacGyver.  On January 15 2001, my grandmother, on my mother’s side, died from complications of liver disease resulting from a blood transfusion she received  in 1982.  In 1982 there was no way to test for Hepatitis C and the blood my grandmother received was tainted with the disease.  By the time a test was developed for Hepatitis C my grandmother had already been ill  for a number of years and was diagnosed with Cirrhosis of the liver as a result.  She needed a liver transplant to survive which she eventually received in 2001.  By that time it was already too late and she died in surgery.  That is the reason why my family advocates organ donation because it may save someone else's loved one.  I never knew my father's mom because she died from cancer when my dad was 16.  

I attended Whitney Elementary and was in first grade on September 11, 2001.  I remember the scenes of the towers falling that were shown on television and knew something awful happened but didn't fully understand how awful.  After second grade I transferred from Whitney Elementary to Allen Elementary to be in the gifted program. In the summer of 2006, my cousin Kelly was married in Florida.  At the wedding  I met my long lost Uncle Danny, who was my Grandmother’s brother.  He stayed with us for a few days and we went to Epcot  together.  He became very special to me.  In March of 2007, we received a call that Uncle Danny died from an aortic aneurysm which is the same thing that my father’s dad died from before I was born.  In March of 2007, I went with my mom to Colorado for the funeral. We went up to Estes Park and visited The Stanley Hotel which was where Steven King wrote the Shining.   Although it was a sad time, we were able to appreciate Colorado in the way that my uncle would have liked.  In August 2007, we decided to get a second labrador and named her Shelby.  In the fall of 2007, I went to middle school at Albion.  There was no bus service at the start of school, due to the failure of the levy, so I was driven and picked up every day. I joined Jazz Band that year having played the alto saxophone since fifth grade.  During the summers of 2008 and 2009 I was a Junior Camp Counselor at Scribes Summer Camp.  I had such a great time and made lifelong friends from that time.  

In 2009, I was off to high school and joined the marching band. I always thought there were a lot of people in the high school and still do.   In November 2010, our loyal pet MacGyver was put down at the age of almost 14 years old.  He was that once in a lifetime dog that always protected us.  A few weeks later we adopted another dog quite unexpectedly.  My mom discovered that our other dog's mom was free to a good home and we went and picked her up.  She fits nicely into the family and is very funny.  

In the summer of 2010, I was part of the Huntington Park Summer Swim League.  In December 2010, the band took a trip down to Florida for the Outback Bowl.  That was a great trip and included marching at Disney World and trips to Universal, Busch Gardens and Ybor City.  In 2011, I was involved in swimming again and I passed my drivers test.   In July of this year, my family went to New York City for the 4th of July weekend.  We really enjoyed the sights of New York and hope to return again soon.  We visited the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, The World Trade Center location among others.  

Oh and the record for one of the hottest day in July, was recently broken this year around my birthday again!