Imaginative Essay

The Absolutely True Connection

When I was eleven my sister and my mom travelled with me to Quebec. We left my dad back at home. We went to Quebec, because my grandmother was dying of cancer and had given up on chemo therapy. Also my aunt had breast cancer and was determined to beat it. It was a hard situation for my sister and I to be put in. We wanted to say good-bye, but at the same time keep our last few weeks with my grandma happy.

That reminds me of the book by Sherman Alexei; when Junior talks about after his grandmothers funeral. “We all have to find our own way to say good bye.” It was such a sudden shock that he did not know how to react.

A few months later my grandmother died. The extended family all came together for a big funeral and celebration of her life. My dad even flew to join us. I was very happy to see my father and all the relatives. But at the same time I was sad about my grandmother. I was faced with overtaking mixed emotions. In the Absolutely True Diary Of a Part-Time Indian, Arnold is faced with the same difficulty; “When it comes to death we know that laughter and tears are pretty much the same thing.” junior says this when he can't control his emotions at his grandmothers funeral. He is so overwhelmed with all the supportthe community gives him.

Finally when we returned home I found myself angry a lot of the time. It was a rough few months. I would get angry and just go for walks. It seemed a problem was hidden deep in the anger. When I read the book by Sherman Alexie I finally made a connection why I would get so angry. “There are all kinds of addicts, I guess. We all have pain and we all look for ways to make the pain go away.”

I think that I am not the only one who can connect to such a powerful book filled with humour and tragedy. I find this book to be very honest and something very important. I think a lot of people don't see what kind of condition these people are treated. Calling drunks and lazy isn't fair. They all had dreams like me and you and giving the chance to succeed, things would be very different. This isn't just about first nations, this is about people who are less fortunate as us. We as a society are very corrupted. Sherman Alexei was saying that just because you are poor does not mean you don't have dreams.