October 13, 2021. The day my Grandparents died. The day started off normal. I went to school and had fun with friends. Before I even knew it, it was the end of the day. I walked side by side with a friend about to go to soccer practice, and I received a notification on my phone.

I stopped for a second to see my sister texted me: “Come out the back door”. I walked out and saw her parked on the left side with both windows up. I went to the driver window and tried to scare her. She didn’t even budge.

I rushed to the passenger door, opened it and sat down quickly.

I asked my sister, “What’s wrong?”

She looked up slowly. Our eyes met. She held my hand and told me the news. “Grandma and Grandpa died, on Dad's side.”

I thought to myself, I should’ve gone to Africa when I had the chance.

I stayed strong and gave her a hug. I told her I was going to go to practice to clear my head and walked off. I closed the door and walked slowly to the field with my head down. I put on my cleats, shin pads, and changed into shorts. In my head I was saying, I should’ve gone to Africa when I had the chance.

I heard a low voice in front of me, “Abdi come on, it's time to warm up”. I turned around and wiped my tears from my eyes and slapped myself in the face. I jogged to the field still feeling a way that I couldn’t even comprehend.

We ran two laps, and I completely lost it. I fell down crying. Not even knowing what to do. Khaleed and Mudasir ran up to me and were asking why I was crying. I told them and they comforted me. They helped me up and walked back to the coaches with me. Khaleed told the coaches what was going on, and they told me it was okay if I wanted to leave right now or do what I want. Wiping the tears away from my eyes I told them I was going to be fine, but I missed all of my shots and had a bad practice. Coach told me to keep my head up, and they were here if I needed to talk to someone.

Another 30 minutes went by and practice was over. I took my gear off and called my older sister for a ride. I walked to the back of the school and sat on the bench waiting for my sister. I took a look at my phone. Saw a picture of my sisters and grandparents. I should’ve gone to Africa when I had the chance...

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