Grandma Janet: The Value Of Family

For most children, at the age of eight they have no stress, worries, or something to be upset about. They are only focused on seeing their friends at school and what is for lunch that day. I was one of those children until my Grandma Janet Ralph, my mother 's mom, received the news that her cancer was spreading rapidly. She needed to go to St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis, three hours northeast from home. The three weeks Grandma Janet spent in the hospital before her death were a struggle my family faced. One particular day, August 10, 2005, the moment I realized my grandmother was approaching death, is a vivid in memory for me because I learned the value and importance of time spent with family because at any moment that time can end.
August 10, 2005 opened my eyes to the value of family. I had been at the hospital for four days now with two aunts and three uncles along with their spouses. On the tenth, I woke up from the bed in the waiting room my mother had made me because it …show more content…
Being so close and looking up to her for eight years, she became my role model. As a result, I hope to be half the lady she was and make her proud. Grandma Janet was the matriarch, leader of the Ralph family; her legacy will be the foundation she started with her six children. Family was a treasure that made her life complete. She always valued family; the moment I left her hospital room crying, I saw the significance of that value. Over the years, the Ralph family continues to keep Grandma Janet’s wishes of keeping the family together by celebrating holidays and even vacation weeks together. Appreciating family and holding them dear was a gift taught to me at an early age thanks to my Grandma Janet. Although the loss of my grandmother was a low in my family’s life, the importance of family was gained and passed on to the generations to