Sunday, February 10, 2008

Lost!

     Have you ever been lost? Have you ever been all on your own in a crowd of gigantic strangers, barring your way to your parents? Well I’d bet that doesn’t sound too terribly scary for you teenagers. Most likely you would have a cell phone readily available so you could call your parents and say, “Sheesh guys, why did you abandon me? Where the heck are you?!?” Trust me getting lost is much more terrifying when you are all alone in a place of death and disease (a hospital.) What makes the situation worse is when you are a little seven year old kid with no cell phone.

     When I was seven years old my Grandma contracted uterin cancer. My cousin and I were her little nurses when she was sick. Together we would make white nurse hats with those big red crosses on them. Then we would run around doing whatever our grandma needed or wanted us to do. It was pretty fun to be grandma’s little helpers, we felt like we were on top of the world or something like that.

     Eventually my grandma got a little bit sicker and had to go to the hospital. My family went to visit her in a huge hospital.

     The hospital absolutely boggled my seven year old mind! Everything was so clean and white! I was completely fascinated with the smells and sites. It was so strange going to a hospital for the first time! My family walked through the main hall and into a shiny elevator, overloaded with people trying to see their injured loved ones. I was near the back of the elevator, and to my amazement there was a huge map of the hospital on the wall behind me! I just stared and stared wondering how big this place really was. Curiously I stared at the keys and patterns when I realized that I was the only person in the elevator! Oh no, where was my mom? The elevator began falling back down toward the main floor. Only a few people boarded the elevator. One of the people was a huge tough looking Samoan who was wearing an impressive uniform with a badge that read “security.” He looked down and spotted me, he looked around for my parents and then looked back at me. “Where are your parents?” he said in surprise.
“I’m lost!” I cowered in his humongous shadow.
“I’ll help you out!” he replied in a kind sounding voice. I didn’t know what to say! My mother had told me not to talk to strangers, and here this stranger was trying to give me help. Not too long ago my mom had told me that if I was lost, that I was supposed to stay where I was, and yet here this guy was trying to give me help. I really felt like I needed it. My seven year old mind started racing,
“What am I supposed to do?” I thought, full of stress. Apparently I looked scared and confused, because the security guard pulled out his badge and showed it to me. He talked to me concernedly 
“It’s alright, I work here! I’ll help you out, don’t worry, we’ll find your parents in no time!”
“Okay!” I said feebly, still worried about “stranger danger.” He stopped the elevator door before it shut and I followed him out into the main hall. He walked briskly, glancing over his shoulder every once in a while to make sure that I hadn’t gotten lost following him. Eventually we came to a set of double white doors that we walked through. We strode into a room with the words “security” labeled on the door. I gasped; the whole room was filled with computers and television screens showing different parts of the hospital! The security guard sat down in a wheeled chair and swiveled it around to face me.
“Okay little girl, what is the name of the relative you came to see?”
“Grandma,” I replied in a small voice.
“Can you tell me her name?” he said trying not to sound too exasperated.
“Janet," I replied timidly while wishing that I hadn’t been so curious.

Meanwhile my parents were pretty frantic. Their little girl was missing! They had pressed the elevator button, and the elevator had come with no Jojo on board. “Oh no, where is Jojo!” They cried in panic.

The security guard typed in the name “Janet,” and had found out what room and what floor my grandma was staying in.
“Good news!” He told me sighing with relief that I had been able to spell my Grandma’s name correctly. “I know where your parents are headed to!”
In a minute I found myself riding the elevator once more. I was completely alert, my eyes never left the door as I waited for it to reach the eighth floor. After what seemed like ages the doors opened. There stood my mother looking as sad as if she had just lost a child.
“Jojo!” she exclaimed in surprise.
“You’re alright! Thank goodness! What happened? Are you okay? Where did you go?” The security guard answered most of the questions as my mom hugged me. After explaining what had happened, the security guard left probably feeling pretty accomplished. My mother called my dad on her cell phone and told him the good news. In a few minutes our family was gathered around my grandma’s hospital bed relaying the story of my unexpected trip.

     Well I guess that laughter is a pretty good medicine after all! In a few weeks my grandmother was completely cured of uterin cancer!

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Embarrassing But True


This is a pretty sad but true little story. In English all of Mr.T's classes are reading "Nothing but The Truth." If you aren't in Mr. T's English class then you might as well stop reading because this won't make sense to you, sorry! I have been siding with Philip all along. Even though I can't stand his personality, he apparently relates to me in his "patriotic" ways.

Kaysville Junior High is very different from Fairfield when it comes to announcements. Kaysville has announcements every morning. Every Monday morning they always did the pledge of allegiance. So when I came to Fairfield and they played "The Star Spangled Banner" I was thoroughly surprised and happy for the change.

I was so used to reciting the pledge of allegiance that for some weird reason I thought that we were supposed to sing the national anthem. So I was just standing in my student government class on the first Friday at Fairfield with my hand over my heart belting out the song. The song had just entered into the high pitched part when I realized that I was the only one singing. I covered my mouth in surprise, but then I ended up covering my face in embarrassment. I'm not trying to insult myself, but in all honesty I would be the next William Hung if I was ever to try out for American Idol! That was pretty embarrassing!