“If we had found out later, he would have died,” my father's doctor told my mother; it took too long for the hospital to realize that my father's appendix had ruptured. The hospital had kept misdiagnosing it, and now they were trying to convince my mother that the hospital was not at fault. At the time, I was only eleven years old and too naive to know what was going on. However, I could see that everyone in my family was stressed about my father's surgery that he had just had and his condition. These past few days, my mother was only home for an hour a day to take a shower and have a snack. I saw his hands trembling, the bags under his eyes getting darker and darker and the color in his face disappearing like his appetite. She looked so fragile and stressed, and I didn't know why she was so upset. I honestly believed that my father just needed to spend some time in the hospital. I hadn't seen him since he was admitted to the hospital, but I knew he was strong enough to fight off any illness. It was now the Thanksgiving holiday and my sister and I just wanted to visit our dad. One day, my sister and I were finally able to go see him, and that's when everything changed. My sister, who had turned sixteen a few months before, drove us to Davis Hospital. Little did I know that this would become a route that I would become very familiar with. I was so impatient that the ride seemed to take two hours, even though it was actually only twenty minutes. As we arrived at the hospital, I noticed a large gray cloud over the hospital. Everything seemed colder and a depressing feeling came over me. We got out of the car and I was immediately hit by a cold breeze. The wind blew through the bare trees and we rushed into the middle of paper......saying "your father is about to die". However, my mother now tells us that she knew my father was dying and was afraid she would have to live without him. During the hospitalization, my sister and I only saw my father motivated and trying to become stronger. However, we now know that there were times when he felt defeated and wanted to give up. He told us we were his reason to keep going and I couldn't be more proud to call him my father. Today, I look back on my father's hospitalization as a moment when my family worked together and overcame a huge obstacle. It gave me faith that my family can overcome any obstacle thrown at us. This Thanksgiving Day is truly my favorite memory. It was a day of hope and joy, and it made me realize that I had so much to be grateful for. I am grateful that my father was able to live and can live a happy, appendix-free life..