Sometimes in life you say that you have all kind of time to go back to school if you want to. I do have my grade 11. I left school after that because of a teacher and as I got older I said that I will some day have to go back to school and get my grade 12. I put it off for a long time. I did not like school, so I was not looking forward to going back. I as most said that I have time.
That was until September 26, 2006 when my brother Wayne got very sick. It was his 29th birthday when he got ALS he was told that he would not live to see his 30th birthday. He did live until September12, 2008, 2 weeks before his 31st birthday. Because of Wayne, I took a look at my life. I said I do need to go back to school. I need my grade 12. Watching Wayne fight for his life for almost 2 years made me want to fight to get my grade 12. Going back is not as hard as I thought it would be. Some times in life, you need a wake up call and I did get mine.
Sometimes in life it takes losing some one so young and so close to you to make you see that you do not have all the time in the world. I just wish I did not wait so long. I am now 29, the same age Wayne was when he got sick. I now tell people that life is too short. I do have friends that did not get their grade 12 and I now tell them that going back was one of the smartest things I have done. I do know what it is like. You cannot make someone do something that they do not what to do. They need their wake up call. I just hope that it will not be like mine.
But I am now happy that I am back in school and I have the love and support of my family behind me. I know that Wayne would be proud of me, too. If school seems too hard I think of Wayne fighting for his life and I keep on fighting for myself. It may have taken me a long time to get here but I am here now and that is all that matters.