For the first eight years of my life, I was aware that my mom's family existed, but I never knew who they were, only my Grandpa Felix. For some reason, my nana (my mom’s mother) was “shut out” of my life, for reasons that seem to only be known to my mother. 

My older sister, Makayla, was born on February 21, 2004. My great-grandfather passed away on August 19, 2004, and my sister on September 8, 2004. The reasons for my sister’s passing were unknown causing a lot of grief for both my parents and the rest of my family. 

After my sister's passing it was said “Although the time was short, she brought smiles to everyone she came in contact with. She had just begun to teach us the ‘Value of Life’ when God put his order in for his new little angel on September 8, 2004”. 

My family learned to live with what happened until my Grandma Gracie (Gracie / dad’s mother) said to my nana (Melanie /mom’s mother), “Your father had taken her away from us all”. My mom didn’t know about what my Grandma Gracie had said to nana.

My mother and my nana were not on any speaking terms. Which was why I wasn’t able to meet her or get to know her. Anything that my mother has told me about the situation is a blur. After all, I wasn’t born until May 18, 2005. 

On a cold Christmas morning, my mom received a call from my grandfather's phone; “Merry Christmas Papa!”, she said. But it wasn’t him who responded, it was my nana. My mother seemed very confused because she hadn’t talked to my nana in many years; so she disappeared into her bedroom. 

My brother and I were both very young at the time; maybe 7 and 2 years of age. We had just celebrated my brother's birthday with some family and friends a few days before and had some winter coloring pages leftover that we had bought from the store for the party. About an hour or two later, my mom returns. 

“It was your nana who called, we talked for a little while and she asked if we could meet for breakfast one day,” my mom said to me and my brother.

After the new year came around we walked down the street to the IHOP. This was the first time that I had ever met my nana and another time that I had seen my grandpa (we usually see him when he comes down to go fishing). Together, we arrived at IHOP, and soon after, we were seated at a table outside. seated at a table outside,I was sitting there, not quite sure what was going on, but as my mom and nana chatted, I saw my mother and nana happier than ever. While I ate my go to pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon with toast.

Soon after we ate breakfast and talked in the parking lot, it was time for everyone to head home. My grandparents had a long drive ahead of them, while we only lived across the street. After that day, mom and nana were in contact just about every day. Making plans for the holidays and breaks we would have in between school. On random weekends, we would be able to go visit because my parents had the time off.

A lot of time has gone by, I am 17 now. I am a senior in high school. And God, I have never felt so much closer to family; even the times that I just sit and just listen to the conversations in the living room or at the dinner table. I’d spend a lot of time with my nana; crafting, cooking, cleaning, talking, going to movies, and spending time in the pool. Those moments matter, no matter how small. Forgetting all the time that we missed together, we’ve spent a lot of time together as well. She has watched me finish elementary school and middle school and I hope she can still watch me finish high school. 

Even though my sister has passed, she has taught us all the value of life from up above. We all learned along the way to connect and put the moments that we didn’t spend together. But value the moments that we do.