Be Careful What You Wish For

Judy Lawrence

Professor Notarangelo

English 101 online

February 15, 2013

Assignment 1: Memoir

Be Careful What You Wish For

The only sure thing in life is death; that's what I have been told. But when my cousin Sherlene died, I could not accept it. It hurt so much. It felt as if someone was cutting my heart open without any form of medication. What made it worst was the fact that I did not get a chance to say I am sorry, or I forgive you. Sherlene and I were the same age. We went to the same elementary school and the same high school. We grew up together. We lived on the same block, we went to church together. As kids, we would have sleepovers on the weekend and stayed up late looking through teen magazines and talked about which guy we were going to marry. Things started to change as we got in our twenties. Our relationship went downhill and Sherlene became the family menace. She stole, lied, and manipulated everyone. I hated her and wished she would leave and never return. Well, she did but not the way I had imagined it would be. Sherlene's body was found under the rubbles of the World Trade Center buildings. I never took the time to find out why my cousin behaved the way she did; now I wish I had a second chance with her.

It was October, 2000 and my mom was turning fifty years old. I decided I would through her a big surprise birthday party. I enlisted my cousin, Sherlene to help me with the planning. Sherlene was a tall, beautiful Jamaican girl. She had hazel colored eyes with long natural shiny, black hair that sparkled in the sun. Her smile was contagious and she knew it. Sherlene had a complexion that radiated from head to toe. She was always well groomed, and up on the latest fashions. I invited Sherlene over on a Thursday night to help me plan for the party. She decided to spend the night at my house since I would be off from work the next day. I lived on the north side of the Bronx in a mixed cultured community. There were Italians, lots of them, Puerto Ricans, thousands of them and then we had the Caribbeans, millions of them. Sometimes I wondered if anyone was left on the islands. I lived in the basement of my mother's two –story brick house. There was not much in my basement apartment but it was just right for me. I had my own bathroom, bedroom and a small living room. We stayed up late that night contemplating what restaurants would be fabulous for us to have the party. After a few hours, I decided to call it a night and crashed on my plush olive green chaise lounge. My annoying alarm clock woke me up at eight a.m. As I stretched over to turn off my clock, I felt a cold breeze hitting my face. I got up immediately and started to call, Sherlene! Sherlene! But