In Memory Of James Patrick White Sr.

On Monday, January 29 2018, I came home from school and everything was okay, I was accepting my parents and their decision to get divorced, I was getting along with my brother, my parents weren't arguing. I was having a good day, that is, until dinner. I came out and started eating dinner when I noticed that my mom and sister just got done crying. Then my dad asked me if I had anything important going on at school, I replied "No, but I have concert band practice next week on Monday after school. Why?" Then, both my parents proceeded to tell me that my grandpa was rushed to the hospital. They told me that the doctors said that he had a heart attack and a seizure. While he was seizing he threw up and filled his lungs with throw up.

His heart wasn't breathing,so my uncle did CPR on him until the ambulance got there. While he was in the ambulance they used the defibrillator on him twice. He got to the hospital and the doctors had to suck all the throw up out of his lungs, they did it non-stop for a long time, they then decided to hang his bed upside down from the ceiling. My parents told me that after I finished eating I needed to go and pack my bag so we could leave first thing in the morning. I got up and started texting my friend telling him that I was coming over because I had something important to tell him. We walked down the street and he texted me and told me that it got too dark and he wasn't allowed to come outside, so I walked home and called him. I told him the news and he was upset because our plans for hanging out were going to have to be cancelled until I got back home.

I got my bag packed and I helped my brother get his bag packed, I stayed up until almost 1 in the morning, but I fell asleep around 12:45. We were supposed to leave around 2 in the morning but mom let us sleep in. I woke up at 5:30 in the morning, and realized that I wasn't in the car yet, so I fell back asleep until my mom came in. When she came in she told me "So I decided to not make us leave at 2 in the morning, there is no rush anymore. Pawpaw died last night at 12:30, it turns out that he didn't have a heart attack, he's been living his entire life with an un-diagnosed heart arrhythmia that killed him."

We all got dressed and packed up the car, I fell asleep and woke up every couple hours. We finally got to Ohio and went to see my sister in the hospital after her back surgery. We went and ate in the hospital cafeteria for dinner then went back to the room for a few hours. I went and stayed the night with my cousin Jenna while everyone else went to my cousin Mia's house. I got back to Mia's house on Wednesday morning and went to the basement to claim what I wanted from my Grandpa. I took a few pairs of clothes and a few pairs of shoes. I also took the watch that he was wearing when he died, and I've been sleeping in his room.

So far in the past 3 days, I've had 5 mental breakdowns. I don't know how much more of this I can take, he was such a healthy person. He went on 7-mile runs everyday. He was always staying in shape, no matter how old he was. He was only 71 when he died at 12:30 on Tuesday morning. I sent him a picture of my grades at 6:00 on Monday night, I wanted him to be proud of me for having all A's. He never got to see it... I just hope that I won't let him down, I hope he died being proud of all of his grand kids. Rest In Peace Pawpaw, I love and miss you with all my heart. I'll see you again in heaven some day.