I lost my siblings who were around 15. They were twins. Their names were Safiya and Jibril. I never got to meet them; they died before I was born. It was hard for my whole family, especially for my mother. My parents would barely mention them; the only time they would talk about them is when people would mention them. My mother threw away all their belongings. I would’ve liked to meet them. Family members and close friends would talk about them a lot like they are still here.

I also lost my grandma when I was young. It was in the middle of summer. I was asleep, and I woke up to my mother and my siblings crying. I was confused about what was happening, and I asked my sibling what was going on and they told me what had happened. It was a hard year. I was her favorite, and we had a good connection. We would talk on the phone almost every day about something that happened that day. She would tell me funny stories, and we would just gossip all day about people we disliked for hours. I miss her so much; it hasn’t been the same ever since she passed away. Not many people have a good connection with their grandparents; some kids don’t even talk to their grandparents. I was lucky to have my grandmother.

I also lost my best friend not too long ago. We would talk on the phone all day and play games with her little sister. She died saving two little kids from drowning. She risked her life knowing that she couldn’t swim and jumped in the water saving the kids. Her box braids kept her from pulling herself up, and she ended up drowning. She died at the age of 14.

I lost a lot of people growing up. It felt like I would always lose someone I was close to. Because life is full of tragedies, everybody is gonna leave one day, so you should make memories with people that you care for because you never know when someone is going to pass away.

© Habso. All rights reserved. If you are interested in quoting this story, contact the national team and we can put you in touch with the author’s teacher.