Sharing from Dynamic Art students Fall 2003

 Some sharing about Ty's
experience:
Life is a very precious gift given to one by God.  It should not be taken
for granted.  On April 14, 2001, my cousin Christina died in a car
accident.  She was unfortunately not wearing her seatbelt, and her body
was ejected from the car that her boyfriend was driving.  Everyone in the
car survived but Christina.  Her death was a tragedy that shook the lives
of my family, her friends, and strangers all over the city of Yonkers,
New York.  But most of all, her death was a calling for me to wake up and
focus on the important things in life.
It is going on three years since Christina's death, and I ain a
completely different person because of her.  As a person I have learned
to love life and appreciate the people around me.  A simple smile can
brighten someone's day.  I always remember her telling me that my smile
made her happy.  So any chance I have, I smile.  Her life was full of
sadness and tragedy.  She was a very confused child and didn't have any
guidance.  She rarely smiled and she never wanted anyone to see her
smile, so she never took pictures.  I am the only one she took pictures
with.  So for me I feel like through my smile, she can smile at the world
she wasn't able to experience.  She had so much potential, and it was
wasted over a simple action like buckling her seat belt.
I appreciated Tyrone sharing with the class his life story.  He was lucky
that God gave him another chance to experience life through a different
aspect.  He was able to finally have some sort of belief in his life,
which was something he never though he would do.  Because of Christina's
death, I feel as if I am living life for two people; for myself and for
her.  I ain proud that she chose me to live her life through- So every
time I make difficult decisions I think of her, and if she would have
benefited from it if she were here with me.
Ty plays the viola; he played it for us in class on Friday.  Now,
something very weird happened and I really cannot explain it but I can
only try.  He took a moment to look at the piece that he was about to
play, studying it for a short period of time.  At that point in time he
began playing and I began to reflect on my life.  I closed my eyes as I
was listening to the soft soothing music.  I was in my new world, the
room went pitch black, even ty was gone but I could still hear the music
playing.  While the music was playing events that happened in my life
began playing ver and over @. 'Mere were happy memories, there were very
sad memories.
I truly and wholeheartedly believe that things happen for a reason.  Some
call this faith, some call this coincidences, but I just call it awesome.
I feel that Ty has experienced a force of a higher power or higher
"science." His accident happened for a reason.  His recovery happened for
a reason.  Ms VA]] and drive to teacher others about his accident has
happened for a reason.  There is always a reason for something happening
and we ALL can relate to this in some way.
Like I stated before I think every word, action, and though of nine is
for a reason but the number one thing that has occurred in my life that
is in any way like Ty's is when my mom found out she had breast cancer.
It was one of those moments when you can't really. believe what someone
is telling you.  That you can't really understand that person as though
they are talking in a different language.  That's the impression I got
with Ty and his experience as well as mine.
I knew my grandmother had died from cancer before I was born but I never
really
knew what kind until the day my mother got a frightening, life changing,
and Earth shattering news of her cancer.  She told the kids-me, my
sister, and my brother- while tears streamed down her face.  I had never
seen anyone in such a state of despair.  She told us her mother had had
the same type of cancer and that's what had killed her.  I couldn't
speak, I couldn't move, I couldn't hear.  Nothing was running through my
head just flashing scenes from the television.  I felt bad, I knew that
there was a chance of death and that it was a real serious situation but
I couldn't do anything, I couldn't console her or even think about what
cancer meant for my family.  My mom soon got treated and she was going to
be fine.   Fortunately she didn't have chemotherapy, but she did get a
lumpectomy.  Months later she was fine and in good health.
Up until recently though it never really occurred to me what breast
cancer meant.  I mean I knew what it was but I never really thought about
the effects and what it meant to me or my mom or sister.  My mom has to
be one of the strongest people I know and to see her so helpless was
unbearable.  The pain she went through must have been incredible.  I see
this situation very much like Ty's.  Of course they are a bit different
but my mother and Ty had the same amount of reasoning to stay with us on
Earth.  Some higher "power" was there to help them both through the
toughest moments of their life.  The both had the will to move on wards.
They both had something bigger than themselves to live for.  For my mom,
it was her family, and for Ty, it was his career, family, and education.
Things happen for a reason.  There was a reason that my mom got cancer.
Maybe it was to show her something or to make her realize the blessings
she has had and will have in the future.. For Ty, his accident happens to
show him something, possibly, that life is too precious to take for
granted.  For me it has woken me up to the risks and chances of my being
infected with breast cancer.  And since that day I have faithfully
believe that things happen for a reason.  My mom's life has been changed
for the better and so has Ty's, and so will mine.
Tyrone's life can be tied to my family because one of my own family
members had a similar problem and overcarne it, well at least tried to
overcome it.  My mother had a strange disease, which at the end of her
life caused her to lose her memory and most of her motor skills.  When
she spoke you could not understand what she was saying, but you could see
it in her eyes.
Like Tyrone, my mother was very brave throughout the illness.  She.knew
that eventually she would die, but never gave up living.  Although she
was ill and couldn't say it, I'm sure that she had enjoyed her days and
life.  I feel that if the disease had not taken her life and she were
able to make a slow but almost full recovery, then she would be a lot
like Tyrone, in the sense that she would enjoy life more now than before
she was ill.  I would find that Tyrone's story can be related to just
about anyone, the story of tragedy that ends in a new light, a new
understanding of life, a rebirth.  Some people however, don't understand
what life is, and they don't appreciate it until something tragic occurs
in their own family.
I lost my mother at the beginning of this past August, you would think
that this sort of situation would cause great turmoil to a person, but
you would be wrong.  Don't think that I didn't love my mother because my
love for her is undying, but suffering such a loss only made me a
stronger person.  I am fearless now.  Not because I don't appreciate
life, but because I over appreciate it.  Although I have never been in
the same situation as Tyrone, I have been able to identify with him.
People like Tyrone, myself, my mother, my immediate family, who had to
watch my mom wither away, and others