By Sawyer Garrett, sophomore, Valor College Prep
It is March, and my high school just closed due to the tornado that ripped Nashville apart. Although Nashville was not in quarantine quite yet and COVID-19 hadn’t firmly taken the wheel of American lives, loss was just beginning to become a prevalent topic for me, as a chance to strongly finish out the school year and an AP class was wiped away.
But that was just scratching the surface of the loss I, and many others, would experience. The losses of 2020 went much deeper than losing a sports season, socializing, or a semester of school; many people found that out. Loss also meant not being there for your ill family member’s last moments of living.
I had to experience the loss of a dear family member. His name was Duane Garrett, but my family always called him Uncle Dane because in many ways, he was that fun uncle that always offered me sweets and would poke a little fun at me every once in a while. Every time I got to see him, he would always ask me about my girlfriend, whether or not I had one. Looking back, despite how embarrassing that may have been, that is one of the things that I miss most about him: His sense of humor, love, and passion for his family. Specifically for him and my grandfather, you knew that they cared about you if they poked fun at you a bit.
Another thing I miss now that he is gone is his love of sweets. Every time I visited his house, he would have some assortment of cookies or chocolates in his kitchen, and in every Christmas game my family played together, he would always end up with essentially all of the candy. To me, all of the sweets he loved represented the joy he found in living life.
One of the best things I miss about him was being able to sit up on a hill under a cedar tree on a rural family property, looking for doves and just talking with him.
His infectious laugh and smile, and the warmth I felt when I was around him was absolutely magnificent. He loved his family, and we loved him. Seeing him in pretty bad shape in a nursing home his last few days was really hard for me because the life that he lived so vibrantly was pulled out of him. He couldn’t talk and didn’t recognize me when I came in to see him.
Like many other people in the country, and in the world, I have experienced many heart-wrenching losses throughout the pandemic. Nevertheless, no matter how bad it felt and feels to lose family members or chances to improve, those losses can help us, and helped me to realize and reflect on how important the small things in life are and how short our lives really are.
Go, and live life to the fullest.
My name is Sawyer Garrett and I am a 10th grader at Valor College Prep. I am a member of the second graduating class at Valor and have devoted my time to my family, friends, academic excellence, and life after high school.
