Overcoming Hardship

Sean Dolan

ENG 121: English Composition

Instructor: Hannah Glaub

April 7 2016

Overcoming Hardship

I woke up to my mother sitting at the foot of my bed. “Your father had a heart attack, he didn’t make it,” she said. My father was 47 years old and I was only twelve. My father and I were inseparable. He took me to school in the morning, picked me up, took me to work with him, and was the head coach of my baseball team. On that gloomy morning, I knew my life was going to change forever. Since that day I have went through so much hardship and made decisions that define who I am today.
The night before, I had been pestering my dad to play Sonic Pinball with me. We were both very competitive and loved playing that video game. I was annoyed because my Dad didn’t want to play that night. Looking back, I could imagine that my father wasn’t feeling well. A week earlier, he had a heart attack and stayed overnight in the hospital.
My father often fell asleep on the couch, would wake up in the middle of the night, and then come into the bedroom to go back to sleep. That night, I had fallen asleep in my mother’s bed. My dad woke me up and sent me to sleep in my room. It was the last time I would see him alive.
After being told the most shocking news of my life, I didn’t know how to react. I was only twelve years old and had never experienced such a loss. My mother waited for me to say something. “Who’s downstairs?” I asked, in a nonchalant tone. My Uncle Mike was downstairs. I peeked out the window and saw fire trucks, police cars, and all of my neighbors on the street, looking concerned.
My mom said she had woken up to my dad getting out of bed. She asked what he was doing and he told her that he was okay and to go back to bed. Hours later, she walked outside and found my father’s legs hanging out of his car. His body was halfway