Alex's Parents example essay topic

Alex: The Life of a Child While reading "Alex: The Life of a Child" I learned a lot about people. I learned a lot about how different people deal with tragedy and death. Ths book is the story of a young girl named Alexandra De for. Alex was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when she was an in ant. I learned a lot about CF. Cystic fibrosis harms the lungs, the pancreas, in males their it damages their reproductive system, so they can never have children.

CF is a progressive disease. When both the child's mother and father have genes infected with CF in their body. When the parents have a baby there is a one in three chance that the baby will have the disease. CF is fatal and very painful and hard on the patient and his or her family and friends. Cystic Fibrosis can easily take over the victims life. It seemed that Alex was in control of her illness.

She needed to receive painful physical treatment twice a day, and a variety of medications. They never really seemed to help Alex's condition, and Alex and her parents questioned the continuation of their use. Alex was a very mature child. Most people perceived Alex as a young adult. She dealt with her problems and her disease, as well as she possibly could have. People (parents, friends, doctors and just about everyone that knew Alex) could not believe how well Alex managed to cope, and how well she accepted her extremely bad luck.

She lived with reality with greater ease than her parents. Her only fear was that when she would die her family: mother, father, and brother, would not be able to continue because they would be to depressed and in so much pain from her loss. That shows that despite of her misery, she was concerned for others. This shows he unselfishness, sensitivity, and thoughtfulness towards other people.

Alex had many wishes, but one main one. Her biggest wish was that a cure would be found for CF before she died. Her wish was denied. Alex never used her disease to make people like her. Every one liked Alex. Alex always smiled and used every bit of her time that she had in a positive and constructive way.

She always enjoyed herself (except while she suffered pain from her therapy). Even when she was in the hospital she made the best of what she had. Alex dealt with the fact that she would die extremely well. She never questioned why she was ill, and not her brother.

She lived with her condition with ease. She understood everything about her illness. I learned a lot about how people deal with death, and how people deal with loss of unbelievably special and close child. Alex's parents wanted to give Alex a whole life's worth of living in the mere eight years that she lived.

Alex's parents tried to fulfill all of her wishes, while she was alive and after she had died. One of Alex's prayers which she recited every night, was to bring children from poor countries to the USA. After Alex died her parent's knew they could not have another child nor did they want to replace Alex. They adopted a baby girl from a deprived country. For a child who's second home and room was in the hospital she was a very happy and delightful child.

She seemed to always smile. Her cheerfulness and smiles are what most of her classmates remembered Alex by. Alex never really felt sorry for herself. In some occasions like one of the last times she was in the hospital she did have sympathy for herself. Alex wanted to be home in time for the holidays, since she knew this would be her last Christmas alive. She was not able to leave the hospital as early as she would have liked because her lung kept collapsing, (but she did make the holidays).

Right after the last time her lung had collapsed, Alex was talking with her father, and that was when she asked him-"Why does God hate me". That was one of the only times that Alex felt sorry and bad for herself, and questioned why it was her, why God chose her and not some other child to have her terrible disease and her harsh pain. This story of Alex has made me think about many aspects of life that we face each and every day like: life, death, pain, joy, dealing with loss. I hope that other people as much about people as I did from this book. I realized by reading this touching tribute of a father, to his late daughter that you should make the best of what you have, especially when you know that you are going to die in a very short time.