The moment that I realized how precious life is wasn’t too long ago. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always known from a young age how valuable it is. From being in a car accident at the age of two that killed my father to my childhood dog being put down, I knew that life doesn’t last forever. However, it wasn’t until the first week of summer vacation after my sophomore year of high school that something in my brain clicked. I suddenly realized that I needed to make the most of my life because it could end in a heartbeat.

It was my first weekend of summer when my mom got a text that surprised us both. The text was from my Nana, and it read, “Just got a text that Byron passed away. Coded again.” Byron was my great-uncle and my papa's youngest brother. He’d been in the hospital for a heart attack after falling off a tractor, and he died the next day.

Since I was a kid, I knew he was a troubled man. He threatened our family, stole money, and was in jail multiple times. I never had a relationship with him or even met him more than once. It wasn’t that I cared about his passing; I was just shocked that it happened.

In my life, I’ve been to many funerals. However, I’d never gone to a wake. When we were told that Byron’s would be two days after his passing, I didn’t intend on going. In fact, my Nana told me not to worry about attending, but I wanted to be there in support of my Papa. As we got to the cold, tiny funeral home where the wake was held, I became filled with perplexing emotions. I didn’t know the people there, or if I did know them, I hadn’t seen them in ages. I saw my uncle Ronnie, my Papa's other brother, who had been struggling with cancer. He didn’t look too well, which made me sad to speak to him. He was the one who sat with my mom in the hospital after our accident that killed my dad. I was confused as to why a good person like my uncle had to battle cancer while people came together to celebrate a horrible man like Byron. It wasn’t until I saw how distraught his daughters were while looking over their father's dead body that I realized he was still a human, trying to figure out life like the rest of us.

On the car ride home, I was trying to comprehend the emotions I was feeling. Seeing Byron’s open casket made me scared for the future. What will happen when my grandparents die? Or my mom? What if Ronnie doesn’t make it this time? It was all too much. I began to break down and cry. My mom and I discussed that even though the future is not known, we shouldn’t waste our time worrying about how it could end. It’s important to spend time doing what we love with whom we love, making countless memories.

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