Emma Rosendale

Mrs. Storer
English 3 Honors, Block 1
4/2/20
January 20, 2017

I’m not sure if it was weeks or months before the 20th, what day it was, or what I was
doing before my parents called my brother and I into the room. My parents always call us into
their room, to get laundry, to mess around with us, or just ask us about our days, so I wasn’t
expecting there to be any news. They had us sit down on the bed and they said they had
something to tell us.
“You know how I have been going to see the doctor a lot?”, my mom asked us.
“Yeah…”, my brother and I said in unison.
I did not expect what my mom said yes. I almost started smiling because I thought she
was about to tell us she was pregnant. But what she said next was completely unexpected.
“Well… you know your grandpa had some issues with his heart, and your auntie had
surgery less than a year ago to fix her heart. Well, I’m going to have to have surgery because my
heart doesn’t work the way it should”
I was completely shocked by what my mom said. My grandpa had passed away before I
was even born because of his condition. Tears immediately started running down my face
because of the fear I felt. I couldn’t imagine living without my mom.
“I have a really good doctor, he’s the one that did your aunties surgery. He does this
operation every single day, so this isn’t anything new to him. He’s going to fix me up and I’ll be
healthy again. I’m scheduled for January 20th,” my mom told us.

As the day came closer, the anticipation rose. We woke up at 4:00 in the morning that
day and headed up to the hospital. It was dark out that morning. That day San Diego saw the
most rain it had seen in a long time, there wasn’t an ounce of sunlight the whole day. We
checked my mom in and waited in the waiting room. Slowly my moms five other brothers and
sisters started showing up, my favorite cousin (but more like big sister) came, and so did my
grandparents. The time came for my mom to get prepped for surgery. We all hugged her, and my
dad went with her to get ready.
I think I grew up that day. I saw my perfect big family wasn’t perfect at all. My mom’s
surgery wasn’t even what made me grow up. I had known that my family was having its issues
like any other family, and I knew my family was a little crazy. But what happened in that waiting
room really took me by surprise.
We were waiting to get called back to the rooms were we day our final “see you later” to
my mom before surgery. My dad wasn’t in the room or else he would have let this happen in a
million years. I don’t remember what was said or how it started, but m moms siblings started
arguing in the waiting room. All I did was sit there on my phone and listened to what they said. I
wanted to see my cousin’s reaction, so I went on snapchat and moved the phone a little to see her
face. She was trying to hold back a laugh just like I was. the only thing I could do was laugh
because they were arguing in a hospital waiting room.
 I thought it was so selfish that they had chose that moment to hash everything out. They
could have chosen any other day. But they chose the day that my mom needed them most. It was
that day that I learned who my real family was, there were those that tried to make light of the
situation, the ones who consoled my brother and I, but there were also the ones that chose to
make the day about their issues. All while my mom was under the knife, not knowing what was
going on down the hall.
The argument ended and we all waited to hear about my mom. There was a weird tension
in the room. Every time someone would talk, I would wait for another argument to break out. My
dad came back into the room and no one said anything about what happened when he wasn’t
there. I’m sure they were scared to find out what he would have said if he had known. Everyone
bit their tongues for the rest of the day until hours later, we could go see my mom.
On January 20th I realized who my family was. I realized who would always be there in
times of need. I realized who would put their own problems aside and focus on the problem at
hand. I realized that my family was not who I was connected to by blood, but those who cared
for my mom the most on that day.

Explanation:
1. The emotional truth I was trying to achieve in this story is that family is not always who
you are related to. There were people in the waiting room that day that were just friends
of my mom. I consider them family because they made sure that my family was ok before
anything. They went out of their way to be there for my mom, while I felt like some
people were there out of obligation. I am honestly so thankful for that day because I
know who truly matters, and I’m ok with keeping my circle small if it means that those
around me truly want to be there.

2. Exposition: learning about my mom’s surgery, sitting in the waiting room on that really
gloomy day,

Inciting incident: the problems within my family that were already going on, and the
tension in the room because of the tension that was there

Rising action: I’m not sure what started it but whatever conversation that was going on to
spark the argument

Crisis/Climax: the argument that broke out in the hospital

Falling action: the argument ended, and everyone finally kept their mouths shut about
whatever it was they were fighting about, then we saw my mom after surgery

Resolution: I got to see who my real family was and I matured enough to see who those
were