daylan yay:]

  I never knew that a life can be taken away from someone so quickly. Life and death is really scary when you really think about it. My uncle Casey was nineteen when he died. He was on his way home from work driving on Highway 4 when a raccoon jumped in front of his car. He swerved and drove straight into a tree. There was more detail towards the crash, but it’s still very hard to talk about it. I met my uncle the year before his death at a barbecue we held for him at my aunt’s house. He had the most beautiful blue eyes ever, you could almost get lost in them. We never really spent a lot of time together and I wish he was still around.

  That same year we had a family get together for fourth of July, we went on first street to watch the fireworks and had the most wonderful time ever. I don’t remember spending time with him their, but I remember us sitting on a recliner chair together. I felt uncomfortable around him and only god knows why but I wish I could of held him tight and never let go. I wish I could of told him how much I loved him, but I never got the chance. Sometimes I ask god why he took Casey away from us all and I’m still a little lost.  

  The day of his death I receiveda phone call, I had just gotten out of school and was walking in the breezeway with my friend. I could hear my mom sobbing and crying as she told me this. I stopped dead in my tracks, I collected the words she said and said them slowly to myself. I remembering screaming in the breeze way as everyone stared at me. I remember yelling, “But he’s so young! He’s only nineteen.” I pulled myself together as friends tried to wipe away the tears. He was gone and he wasn’t coming back.

  The viewing of his body was the most horrifying thing ever to go to. We waited in a huge line to go see Casey. It was almost like a line to go to on a ride, but not that exiting. I got tired of waiting and asked my mom if i could skip it and go sit down, she nodded her head. Were I was sitting you could see a clear view of the body. He was motionless, breathless. I looked down and cried, I was expecting anything like that at all. I’m not the type of person to cry a lot, I almost never show my emotions but i couldn’t help it. I fell on my cousins arms and said, “That’s not my uncle Casey.”

  I think the death of Casey brought our family more together and more closer. Now every time we see each other we hug each other tighter. We tell each other how much we love one another more often than usual. We all no know how fast death can occur and we deffiently don’t want to loose another person of our family.

  All those cold, grueling nights of hard practice to perfect our routine were over. All the fighting and disagreements we had about the stupidest things were solved. Half the people wanted to quit by the time the 2007 cheer regionals came about, but we stuck through it together. Cheer isn’t just a sport or a game. It’s not all pom-poms and smiles. Cheer to me is life. We were finally here. I had been to thousands of cheer competitions before, since my aunt owned and coached West Coast Elite, but this time it was different. I wouldn’t be standing in the stands congratulating the girls. I would finally have my chance to shine and to prove that seven hours of practice was really too much.

  We walked into the doors of Foothill High School were the competition was taking place. The gym felt fresh and new with thousands of cheerleaders running around. The blue mat looked more blue than ever. I wanted to run on it, pick it up and hug it, but i knew I couldn’t. About ten other teams would be performing against us, none of the teams looked like a huge threat. We all felt the same way nervous, scared and shaky. Today was the day to prove to everyone, to prove to ourselves that we had what it took to get first place.

  A little later we watched all the teams preform, comparing ourselves to the other team. I tried to find one little mistake, but it was almost as if they were … perfect. I got even more nervous than before. I felt as if I had the biggest apple in my throat. Our que was on to get ready, I gave my mom and aunt a hug to thank them for coming. We stepped in a back room to have one last practice before the big performance. I wasn’t sure if we did a good job practicing because all I could remember was the announcer calling our names.

  My coach Marquell gave us a huge pep talk and threw out super huge tips to make us fill a little relaxed. The whole time I felt secluded out. All I could hear was the loud voices of the crowd. Marqell’s voice seemed to be on mute, and tears ran down my face. Marqell’s voice came back to reality and he tried to cheer me up, but my nerves just builded up inside me. Maybe I had fell asleep because I have no idea how my feet ended up on that mat and before I knew it our music began.

  Being up there you can fill the crowd’s energy, you can fill the excitement everyone had. My weakness of being scared seemed to fade away and disappear. There’s just something about being there in front of everyone that really gets to my head.  I fill relaxed and calm. I fill like I’m doing this for a living … performing. I hit off all my moves, my toe touch was not the best but it felt amazing. I didn’t want the music to ever stop. After the routine we all rallyed off the mat and were too exited to talk. The excitement was really exhilarating. We all had tears of huge happiness and all the hard work really did pay off.

  Now the last part of the day was the most important, it was the part we all came for. When you go to competitions you either win or loose. You go home feeling the best in the world walking away with a metal. It didn’t matter if you were put in last or first as long as you went home remembered.  All the teams sat in their own circles holding hands, and so did we. We were still pumped up from our performance and were still crying. Our arch enemies Wolf pack sat right beside us giving us dirty nasty looks. Their jealousy made us even more exited to hear the results. The announcer finally stepped up holding a white place card in her hand. Next to her was a man in a tight fitted suit holding tons of bronze metals. The beautiful blond announcer gave us a congratulation-speech and finally took a serious breath. 

  “Fourth place goes to Wolf pack!!” said the announcer with tons of excitement. They jumped up thrilled that they had placed. We squeezed each others hands as they sat back down. Maybe we would get third or maybe second? First would be amazing, but were we really that good? I don’t remember much about third place as my mind was racing with thoughts.

 ”Second place goes to the Orville Eagles!!!” the announcer yelled as she pointed to their circle. They were also sitting next to us and gave us words of encouragement. “Don’t cry you guys are getting first you were awesome!” My face lit up more than ever. The eagles had been very nice every since we met them. At one of our home games they cheered for us when we performed our halftime routine.

  I blanked out once more as the announcer talked. Her voice was on mute and I looked around, I could almost hear my heart thudding. I looked up and prayed, “Lord please.” Tears sprinted across my face. “First place goes to… the Antelope Pronghorns!!” My heart jumped and I ran up to the man in the fitted suit. I screamed I laughed I couldn’t believe it was actually happening. We had really won. All the teams got up and jumped with us. It was amazing, and the last thing I remember was crying more than I had all day long. I grabbed my best friend and I whispered, “We did it!”.

  “Clean your room, pick up your laundry!” is usually what my annoying mom is yelling. We usually get into so many arguments about the most aggravating things, but were also very close. She’s the only person I can really talk to. We have a very strong relationship and I know she can keep any of my secrets. 

  Sometimes I absolutely hate my mom, but doesn’t everyone hate their parents every once in a while? One thing she does that really annoys me is rush me while I’m taking my sweet precious time. We yell at each other and say things that we don’t mean, but we always seem to forget why we fight in the first place. She’s a very forgiving person and that’s what i love most about her. She understands that no ones perfect and she doesn’t expect anything out of anyone but respect.

  My mom and I have the funniest times together since were exactly alike. We laugh at the most ridiculous things and always have so much fun together. My most memorable moment with her would be when we watched scary movies on the couch together all night long. We laughed at the actors and imitated their faces. It’s something we haven’t done in a while and i truly miss it.

  My mom has always taught me how to be independent and how to get through struggles. She has been through tough times in which I have witnessed but they teach me to be a stronger person. I appreciate everything my mom does for me. Without her I would have never gotten this far in life.