narrative

Good Out of Bad During my fourth grade at Greenhill Farms Academy I received information that would turn my world upside down. My only cousin, Jeanine had been killed by a jealous ex-boyfriend! You can imagine that this was pretty tough to deal with since I was so young and Jeanine was one of my best friends. This particular day, March 22, 2002, started out like any other day at my school. However, during recess my teacher, Mrs. Smith, called me over and told me to go to the Office. This was not a good sign since I only got called to the office when I had done something wrong. This day I was innocent! I muttered to myself as I went to the Office and was very surprised to see my Grandma there. She had a worried look on her face so I knew something was really wrong. Just as I entered the office, my brother, a 5th grader, came through the door also. It was then that we were told what had happened. She told me my cousin Jeanine had passed. It was some time later before I learned the true details of her death. I was in shock and disbelief. My cousin Jeanine was only 21 years old when she died. She was a college student with everything to look forward to in life. She was full of fun and always made sure that my brother and I got most of the things we wanted. Oh she would lobby my grandma, her aunt, on our behalf. And most of the times it really worked. After all, who could resist the charms of the three of us when we worked on them? Jeanine was the one who taught me how to tie my shoes. She was very gentle with us and would get down on her knees, to my eye level to talk to me. She taught me a lot of things in her short lifetime including how to beat my brother when we played Monopoly. She showed us how to swim and always selected the very best Christmas gifts for us. Once she gave my brother a big purple “Barney” stuffed animal and she gave me a tee-shirt with the words, “Here Comes trouble!” written on it. Jeanine was the most thoughtful person that I knew. She even had just completed a very, very small part in the Tim Reid movie, //For Real//. She was well on her way to do great things in life. Somewhere a long the way she met an unstable person who eventually took her life and his own. Jeanine’s death was quite a shock for me. Up until that time, I thought only old people died. Her death at such a young age taught me that regardless of how young you are, you can die or be killed! So I became much more appreciative of life. I try to live each day to its fullest. I avoid conflict, treat others with respect and try not to be discouraged by set backs. I understand that things will not always go the way I want them to so I try to find the good in everything. I believe this is what Jeanine would have wanted for me and would have expected from me. Death, especially the untimely death of a young loved one has a way of teaching you that life is precious and something that you should cherish. This realization is what I call my “good” out of the “bad”, the death of my cousin Jeanine.