Prompt: If you could
have dinner with any three people (alive now or from another era), who would
they be and what you hope to learn from them?
If
there was an opportunity in my life for me to sit down and have dinner with
three people, well that would be a very hard decision. My first instinct would
be to choose historical figures, celebrities, or people I constantly see on the
cover of Forbes Magazine. Actually I would prefer these people be close in
relationship to me like a family member or friend I never got the chance to get
to know very well. My first choice would be my dad Gary Armstrong, and two
friends named Joe Napolis and Evan Etoch.
When
I was four years old, my dad passed away from lung cancer after a long habit of
smoking. I can imagine that I didn’t really understand this part of my life
very well at first. But I soon came to find out that all my friends were living
in this perfect world with two parents and I came to the realization I didn’t
have a dad. Just about every single day I wondered what it would be like to
have a dad: how he would treat me, how he would love me, and just the things in
life that a dad is essentially there for a young girl. I would like to sit down
with my dad and hope he loves Mexican food as much as I do, and dwell into all
these topics and questions that have captivated my heart and mind for most of
my young lives. Then within a span of a typical dinner time I would know in my
heart what it would be like to have a dad.
Another
person in my life that I would like to spend more time with and converse with
over dinner is named Evan Etoch. Evan was a well-known boy I went to school
with. I started at a new middle school with him in seventh grade, then through eighth
grade, and during our freshman year of high school he ended his life doing
something he always did and will love: dirt bike riding. It was such a passion
for him and when I think about the time he spent in the last few minutes of his
life he makes me so happy. In a matter of hours his death broke the hearts and
spirits of so many people in one community. My goal would be to talk to him and
thank him for the legacy and memory he left behind to his immediate family and
friends and the people who had the unfortunate yet fortunate joy of getting to
know him after his passing. Then ask him what he learned up in heaven for two
and a half years after looking down on all of us and seeing the pain that we
had to suffer through. I would want to know in his own words why it was so
necessary for him to leave Earth so young and innocent with what seemed like
such a hopeful life ahead of him.
If
I could choose one more person to sit and have dinner with, I would not
hesitate to talk with my friend Joe Napolis. When I moved to a new town in 2005
I was barely turning ten years old and he was a man at my church who along with
his wife guided me in many right directions, not only in my life but to grow in
my Christian faith. While not knowing a whole lot about Joe and spent a lot of
time with him and his wife Theresa. Joe and Theresa were actively involved in
the church and my family grew to be close with them through the years. He was
diagnosed with cancer and passed away in a matter of four months. Part of what
broke me deep inside after his death was the fact that I never got to say
goodbye. It was first thought that he was just sick and going in and out of the
hospital. But when the cancer was detected and he was transferred to a far
hospital and I was never allowed to visit him. That was something that I had to
handle on the inside before I could change my outlook on his death on the
outside. If I had the opportunity to sit down with him I would talk about the
fact that I my family and him and his wife spent so much time together , yet I
would have liked to know more about his life and what got him to where he left
his life on his final days.
It
seems like I would prefer sitting down to have dinner with people would have
passed away at some point in my life. Also sharing the fact that I spent time
and love with these people yet I could have known so much more about them. I
really believe that my experiences with these people could have the potential
of changing my present outlook on life and death and how I should carry out the
rest of my life. Because in reality I only get one life to live and one want to
make it the best one yet.
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