Losing Samantha; Gaining Compassion
October 3, 2000 seemed just like any other Monday. I was working at Brown’s, an independently owned grocery store. My dad came in with Shelby and Colton, my youngest sister and brother, earlier than he usually did on a school day. He approached my register with a somber expression on his face that will never be forgotten. Samantha, my other sister who was also younger than me, had been complaining of backaches and had been visiting hospitals and doctors habitually. An uneasy reaction inside told me the news he was about to share with me pertained to her and was not going to be enjoyable. His words were like ice that sent an uninterrupted chill down my spine. “Samantha has a large tumor on her back.” My knees went weak. I understood from those past two minutes that my life was about to change forever. The news about my 12 year old sister broke out into the small 1500 population town within the hour my dad spoke it. Everyone came together suddenly to organize fundraisers to help out our family with the outrageous bills that were soon to come. The young people from every church made plans for a prayer breakfast in honor of Samantha. Each church had their young people say
A few days after this incident, she came out of the coma and began to respond to a few things. She was not totally the same as she was before the coma but her warm personality was coming back. I really thought she was going to be just fine. Then the day came when the most superb cancer doctors proclaimed there was nothing more they could do for her and they sent her home with a breathing machine and plenty of medications. She was at home for about 2-3 weeks when I noticed her memory starting to fade and her responses were slow. Early that Sunday morning my dad came into my room and woke me softly. He told me to “get up and get dressed. There are a lot of people here and more are coming. This is it.” I laid in bed and wept for a few short minutes. a prayer, sing a song, or give a small presentation about my sister. Samantha’s dad, Brian, called my dad one day with encouraging news. “My friends are putting together a festival in honor of Samantha.” I thought this was very generous because he was going through the same situation we were. Ladies from the church my dad pastors came up with the idea of selling barbeque dinners and bake sales. They put their minds to work right away. They labored for hours in taking orders, donations, and preparing the food. I had no idea the people that lived in that miniature town could be so concerned about my little sister and her family. It seems everyone understood what we were going through and helped us carry this burden in whatever way they possibly could. So many were mailing in donations and cards with words of encouragement. My dad works with an extremely wealthy gentleman who said to him one day, ”Jimmy, if there is any bill that comes in you cannot pay, or any expenses you need taken care of, come to me and I will personally see to it that it gets taken care of.” I knew there was no possible way we could go without something we needed. Too many charitable people were concerned for us. God was on our side also. When the holidays ended it seemed everything went downhill from there. I was getting ready for school one morning at my grandparen
Some topics in this essay:
Houston Samantha,
Shelby Colton,
Regardless Thanksgiving,
House Samantha,
Day God,
Houston TX,
Compassion October,
God Samantha,
house samantha,
cancer doctors,
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Approximate Word count = 1440
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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