I can never forget the feeling that went through me on March 28, 2015. The day will always be unforgettable. It had turned the best spring break into the worst break. We all knew that he wasn’t going to be amongst us for long, but no one had imagined that day would come so soon. The day my uncle had passed away.

My brothers and dad were asleep, and my mom and I had just finished watching a movie. My mom and I were about to head to bed just after finishing a movie, when my mom decided to first call my uncle who was sick and ask him how he was doing. My mom called him, but he did not answer. She then called her aunt that my uncle lived with, but she did not pick up either. My mom tried calling a few of my other aunts as well, but no one picked up, and we immediately knew that something was wrong.

Eventually, my uncle’s best friend picked, and the minute we heard his voice, we knew something was wrong. He told us that my uncle had fallen unconscious and they had brought him to the hospital. Before we could ask him anything else, he said that the doctor had come out and he would call us right back after talking to the doctor. The silence that followed after the phone got hung up was unforgettable. It was obvious that we were both praying for his well-being. The phone finally rang to break the silence. My uncle’s friend told us that they were putting my uncle on a ventilator, and they would know in ten minutes if he would be all right or not. That was the longest ten minutes of my whole entire life. I had a thousand thoughts flowing through my mind during those ten minutes. My uncle’s friend called back after about ten minutes tell my mom that she should book her ticket to come to India.

Through tears, my mom told me to wake my dad up. I went up to my dad’s room, and woke him up. He immediately knew something was wrong after looking at me. He wiped my tears away and came with me. When we came back, my mom was on the phone. She looked at us and shook her head. The pain that went through me at that moment was indescribable. It was like something had pierced through my heart. My dad told me to try and calm my mom down, but I could hardly even move. Eventually my dad went and got my brother to come and calm me down. My dad and brother finally got us to go to bed around 3 am. I remember not being able to get any sleep that night; all I did was cry. When my dad came into my room the next morning to wake me up, he knew I didn’t get any sleep. He told me to come downstairs as soon as I could.

My cousins and other relatives were sitting there, and soon everyone decide that my mom should go to the travel agent as soon as possible. When she called me at the agents shop and told me to start packing her clothes as soon as possible, and told me that she was leaving for the airport in 2 hours. I busied myself with packing her clothes.

I remember how depressed I felt for the next weeks that followed. I went on walks with my dog and found empty places where I could just scream my heart out. I had never felt that alone before. I had finally made a bond with my uncle the last summer when we went to India. I remember how much I regretted not dong things my uncle had said that we should do together because I was too tired. I hate how quickly our bond broke off.