“ Nedu, never give up on anything you do, and remember to make me proud” those are the words my grandmother told me hours before her death. She was a short woman with fair colored skin, and little to no hair left on her head from chemo. She was a kind, gentle, and forgiving woman who tried her best to make everyone at ease.She has always amazed me, and thinking of her makes me strive for the best.

My Grandmother was always cheerful and considerate to others. When I was about two and my grandma came to the United States from Nigeria to visit us, I would always ask her to play when she wanted to take a nap. Even though she had jet lag from flying from the other side of the world, she still said yes and we would go to the park near our house. If I was in her shoes I would have played after I slept, but she cared so much for me that she gave up her time to sleep to play with me. Also my grandma was always made us laugh to lighten the mood if we were all depressed or feeling pretty blue like the time I was three, and I fell of my tricycle. She saw me crying and told me “ did this bike hurt you?” I nodded in response still shaken up. She then turned to the bike and started pretending to hit it saying” why did you hurt my grandson?” as if scolding the bike. I started cracking up at the sight of this, and she turned to me and said “ Do you feel better now?” she asked. “Yeah, thank you grandma” I replied beaming with pride at her as she carried me inside. Another example of this is when she called us to tell us about the passing of my grandfather, we would have expected her to be saddened like we were. Instead she would make jokes about how they met, and the stories about my father, my grandpa, and two uncles that had us gasping for air.That eventually cheered us all up. She was most likely distraught by the passing of her husband, but she never showed it. She was always uplifting, and she never wanted to damper anyone’s mood lower than it already was. So instead of making us cry, she thought it would be better to make us laugh.

I learned later on where there is joy there is heart-ache as well. In early 2012 she was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer. We were shook up by the news, and we thought that they were making a mistake. That she didn’t deserve cancer after everything that has happened to her. Even though she was struggling with everyday routines such as getting out of bed or even eating, she always made the effort to call us, and reassure us that she’ll be fine, and that she was getting better. Even when she was sick and in obvious pain, she didn’t want us worrying about her and wanted us to go back to our everyday life. Her condition only got worse from there, and there was no hiding the fact that she was slowly but surely dying.

Even while she was dying she reassured us that everything will be fine. She told us that we should not worry or cry that we were going to be fine without her. She still tried to make us happy even when she was in and out of consciousness. She always hated being worried about and always said “ I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me,” but I only felt more worried for her. She had a huge place in my heart, and when I figured out that she was not going to make it there was a humongous hole in my heart the size of the Grand Canyon. Her last words to me and my family were “ I want all of you to never give up, and to keep on fighting. I want you all to make me proud.”With that she was gone.

My grandmother has impacted me so much and I wouldn’t be the person I was today if she was not here. She was a hardworking, loving, and an unselfish person. She has given me a positive outlook on life, and taught me to be a respectful, kind, and loyal person. She will always be the most influential person in my life, and I promise to make her proud.