The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond XXXI

Jeremiah Arruda
Valerie Carvalho, Teacher
Keith Middle School, New Bedford, MA
Courage means that you have to fight through your hardest struggles for
the ones you love. My grandmother and I both showed our courage to help
each other.
My grandmother is 57 years old and about three years ago, she had to start
fighting stage four lung cancer. There have been lots of ups and downs and
so many emotions. It’s been tough. Without her, I wouldn’t be doing so well
at the moment. She puts my family and me first, and that has made me feel so
loved. When I first heard that she was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer,
I ran up to her crying, telling her that I was sorry for all the mistakes I had
made. She obviously told me that was okay and that she loved me. She was
doing well until a year later. The cancer started spreading throughout her
whole body. When I found that out, I ran to my room crying and completely
broke down. My grandmother is my life. I always had to remind myself to try to
be brave in front of her. I had long talks with other family members about how
to deal with the situation. I also had to get used to doing a lot more around
the house to help out. My grandmother was still cooking even though her
back and feet killed her. She never complained about how much she really
hurt, but we could see her getting worse and worse. She kept apologizing to
us for feeling like a big burden even though she couldn’t help it. She pushed
herself mentally and physically to her limits to care for us.
“I had to stay strong
and use positive
words and advice to
make her feel better,
when really my
heart was breaking.”
During these past three years, I learned a lot about what it means to be
courageous from the heart and strength of my grandmother. Every part of her
fight is more for her family than herself.
Fast forward. My family was doing fine for a while. Then one day out of
nowhere, I heard a huge bang. I looked over to see that my grandmother had
fainted and fallen to the floor. I screamed her name so loudly at the top of my
lungs that my aunt ran from where she was in the house to help me. I tried to
stay calm and not panic. She was feeling weak after her chemotherapy, and I
could tell that she wasn’t right. We had no choice but to convince her to go to
the hospital to get checked, which was one of her biggest fears. She put up a
good fight, but eventually worked up her courage to go in.
I had to stay strong and use positive words and advice to make her feel better,
when really my heart was breaking. I was so proud of her for getting through
the CAT scan because she really was terrified of them and the closed space.
In these hard times with COVID, I was extra proud of her for building herself
up on her own, because nobody was allowed with her at the hospital. After a
week, she came home and I was happier than ever.
The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond
Volume XXXI
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