Working Through My Brother's Passing by Taiwa

Working Through My Brother's Passing by Taiwa - May 2026 Scholarship Essay

I lost my brother on March 23rd of 2020. He was in his early 30s and was already on dialysis due to his diagnosis of Diabetes Type 1. He died of a heart attack. I was only 19 years old when I lost him and I planned his funeral because I did not want my parents to juggle the grief and funeral planning simultaneously. He was my half-sibling so he was 14 years old when I was born. Throughout my whole life, he was almost like a parental figure to me.

When I lost him, I simply ignored the grief and feelings of profound loss. I just pretended that he went to the store and was going to take a while to come back. It was not until 2023 that I got mental help to deal with the grief and trauma of losing my brother. During that time, I completely lost who I was. I stopped doing anything and everything that reminded me of him. I stopped doing positive things because he would be the first one I would want to tell. I could not face the reality that he was not around anymore.

His loss showed me that life is very short and it can be gone within an instant. It made me face a reality that you cannot control your life if you were already born with the cards against you. And, that all you can do is do the best you can and live your life to the fullest.

You learn to cherish the ones around you and try to stay present. You learn to tell people how much you love them, care about them, and appreciate them. You learn to love your community and you learn to love your family through grace and love.

Whenever I would have a problem and I would vent to him, he’d always ask me, “how can I help you? I just want you happy”. Without him here, I had to face the reality that no one would be there to look out for me the way that he did. When he first died, I dropped out of University because I could not handle the load of academics and my own personal issues. Now in 2026, I plan on going back to school in the Fall and I want to complete my degree in honor of him and in honor of the strength that he would always try to lend me.