I run down the sidewalk cutting through the middle of the park.  My skirt flies our behind me as I run and my flip flops make a loud smacking sound with each step I take.  I can’t let them catch me, I thought.  I was getting short of breath and I could see her in my peripherals reaching out, trying to grab me.  Finally I can’t go on anymore and I stop to let her tag me.
“You’re it!” one of my best friends, Lauren, screams and jogs away.  I try to catch her but we’re breathing heavily by like dogs and our once fast sprint is now a slow jog.  Kiki and Katie, two of my other really close friends, run up, panting, as well.  We decide to take a break from our game to catch our breath.  We meet up with our friends Elise and Emily and the six of us walk around the fun fair together, looking at all the different booths set up.  We’re fifth graders, finally at the top of the school, and we walked around like we owned the place.
Sadly my mom soon walks up with my younger brother, Isaiah, and tells me it’s time to go home.  I’m not too upset though because we had been at the fun fair for hours and I need to wake up early for graduation tomorrow.  On the way home my mom tells us what’s happening at the hospital, my other mom’s there with my grandma, her mom, keeping her company.  My grandma has been fighting a losing battle with colon cancer for over a year and she isn’t doing well anymore.  One silent ride home later and we had finally arrived home. I go in the den to just sit and relax after a crazy day at school, the comfy couch and sunlight streaming in through the window instantly help me de-stress.  I’m picking out a new wallpaper for my phone when my other mom walks into the room.  My mom walks in with tears in her eyes and is clutching the house phone in a death-like grip.  I freeze and go cold inside, I can guess what’s happening, but I don’t want to believe it.
“I’m so sorry Olivia, but I just got a call from the hospital.  She passed away,” my mom says.  I want to believe that it’s not true.
“Buh, wa . . .” illegible words tumble out of my mouth in shock.
“Nana just couldn’t hold on anymore.”  She gives me a sad defeated look and holds out the phone to me.  “Would you like to talk to Mama?”  I nod and shakily grab the phone, and she leaves to room to give us some privacy.  I can hear my mom crying over the phone and it breaks my heart.  I feel so much sympathy for my mom because you never want to lose your mom.  She tells me that she’ll be home soon and that she loves me, I return an “I love you” and hang up.  My other mom and Isaiah come into the den and everyone is crying and hugging each other.  You could feel the sadness in the air, suffocating you and taking your breath away.
I just can’t take it anymore!  I bolt into my parent’s room and curl up in the middle of their bed, not even getting under the blankets, and I just cry. 
“Not yet, I’m not ready to let her go!”  I whisper to an empty room.  I’m drowning in the downpour of my emotions and it feels like I can’t get to the surface to breathe.  Memories of her flash through my mind; spending every Sunday at her house with the whole family, getting smelly hand sanitizers that always drove my mom crazy, having Applebee’s every Christmas Eve after church, homemade spaghetti at Christmas, her always telling us that she’d be a great secret agent because no one would ever suspect her, taking the whole family somewhere special every year for Christmas.  The memories just keep coming and I can’t stop them, all I can do just sit back and cry. 
My grandma was so strong and healthy before she got ill.  I realize that I had tricked myself into believing the she was going to keep hanging on, that she wasn’t ever going to leave.  No matter how strong the person, though, they’re only human. 
My grandma was one of the best people you will ever meet. Sweet, funny, kind, with a can do attitude and she could find a good quality in everyone.  She was the glue that held our big family together and we’re still recovering from the sadness her departure left us with.  My grandma had the biggest heart I’ve ever known and will forever have a place in mine.