Throughout my 15 years of living, I’ve always heard about cancer and people dying from cancer but never in a million years did I think my best friend would die from cancer. My grandpa had been struggling with fighting cancer for a very long time.
My grandpa had to get put on so many different medicines, “cures” and go on a strict diet. Those “cures” didn’t do anything but make him worse. Everyone says chemo is the best cure or you’ll have the best chance of living if you use chemo but that’s not true. Chemo isn’t something that can just cure every type of cancer.
The day I got told my grandpa wasn’t doing well was one of the hardest days of my life. My grandpa truthfully was my best friend and was the one person I could always go to for advice. I loved going camping with my grandpa. When I had a soccer game or a volleyball game, I always looked for him before anyone else sitting in those stands. He was the light of everyone’s day. He had the sweetest heart ever and always knew how to make people smile.
His name was Robert Krauter. He was diagnosed with bladder cancer in February 2023, the cancer spread to his lymph nodes he went through chemo until January 2024, then he had to go back to get another scan to see if the cancer had decreased in size or increased in size. The results showed it had increased in size which means it was growing and just taking over more parts of his body. My grandpa sadly ended up passing away February 15 at 4:52 p.m.. He was only 65 years old.
The day my grandpa passed, I had been with him that whole day from about 10:30 until 3. I didn’t want to leave him but I had to go to work. My dad took me to work while my mom ended up staying at the house with my grandpa, grandma, uncle and my grandpa’s best friend. I didn’t hear from my mom all night.
Whenever I got off work I called her immediately. I could tell by the tone in her voice that it wasn’t good and something had happened that she wasn’t telling me. She still didn’t tell me right away. We found out the next day was going to be a snow day and I was so excited because I was going to ask if we could go hangout with papa. Whenever I asked, she completely avoided the question and changed the topic. That’s the moment I knew something was up. My dad had called me upstairs a few minutes later and everyone had complete straight faces, my mom laying her in bed holding back all the tears possible. Then they told me. “Papa isn’t with us anymore, bug.” That was the exact moment I felt my body go numb, my sight got blurry and I couldn’t even think. I had no idea what to say. I couldn’t believe it.
Losing my best friend is a feeling I never want to have to experience again. I never want anyone to have to feel that way. It was horrible. The days leading up to the funeral were miserable. The funeral day was something I never want to have to go through again. Everyday for the next two weeks following my grandpa’s death was miserable. I didn’t even want to get out of my bed. I didn’t want to eat but I had to be strong for my mom, for my dad. For my grandma and for all my siblings.
One thing I want to take away from losing him is all of our memories and the lessons he taught me growing up. He always told me to never let anyone else determine my worth. Some of the best lessons that I will always remember are “never give up no matter the challenges God throws at you,” “God gives his hardest challenges to the strongest people,” and that “whether I’m here or not, I will always guard you.” I will never forget any of those and neither should you.
