College is sometimes considered the part of life before the real world sets in. But real world problems seep into our lives that center around taking tests, applying for jobs and trying to have some fun.

The last timeÿmy sister and I sawÿour grandpa wasÿover New Year’s. He looked almost the same as he always did for as long as I can remember. Each year everyone gets together during that time. To think that all this time I didn’t even know he was sick because he didn’t look like someone battling cancer. He was happy and laughing all of the time and he didn’t act like he knew he had a terminal illness. Iÿalmost think he didn’t want to know. His usually enormous appetite was still intact and his jokes still kept on coming, and then one second all of that was gone and he could barely speak.

My grandpa had been sick with prostate cancer for more than 12ÿyears and last Thursday he went from being very sick but still eating and talking to the point where he needed a hospital bed in his house and an oxygen machine to help him breathe. By the timeÿmy sister and Iÿgot there to visit him on Saturday, he was sleeping and barely responding to anything. I actually have known that he is sick for only about a year, and even if I had known when he first became sick, the change was so drastic that there is no way it would have been anything less than shocking. Throughout this last year he had more frequent radiation treatments and trips to theÿhospital, but no one could tell even though we knew what was going on.

We originally had made plans to go see him last Saturday, but it was a lot harder to process in such a short time that last week was the last time he would probably ever get to go outside, the last time he could eat anything and the last time he could see his grandchildren. And it all happened in a matter of days, butÿat least we were all able to be there and share it together.

I am not complaining about what my problems were before or about what my grandpa’s illness has done to my life andÿmy family’s life,ÿor that it was kept from me and most of my family for a long time. But I really wish that I had the ability to be prepared for this. College may prepare you for the real world when it comes to jobs and being successful, but taking classes can’t set you up to handle all that comes your way.

Everyone in my family, and everyone in general, handles events like this in their own way. My mom is a nurse so she was there all the time helping him and making him comfortable. My grandma baked cakes and did stuff around the house. My uncle did some work in the yard that needed to be done. After spending the weekend there, I can’t forget that he is still very sick. I have never more appreciated having work to do so I didn’t have to think about it all of the time.

My advice for life’s more serious problems is this: Try to appreciate that your biggest problem is a tough test next week and remember that no matter how stressed you get about it, it could be worse. There are a lot of better things in life to think about.

It is important to keep perspective in check even if we haven’t officially entered the real world yet. That is one of the many things I have learned through this difficult experience. I also would say to remember what is mostÿimportantÿto you because having to deal with the problems of college, which can be hard, can also make you forget that it is not the most important thing.ÿ

I may have to go home again soon. For me, I have learned that it is my family because we always make it back to one another in times of need or in times of fun, but they are always there. My schoolwork and college life can always be put on hold and will be there when I get back.

I know that I am not the only one to go through this and everyone deals with it in their own way. But in the words of my grandma, “Take advantage of your youth,” because one day can bring all the change in the world, and the only way to be prepared for what you might lose in a second is to appreciate what you had the second before.