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Garrett Levengood
Foundations of College Writing
M. Perakovich
April 29, 2013
I Walk by Faith not by Sight
“Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light.”
-Helen Keller
Driving through the city of Lebanon on that beautiful summer day on July 10,
2011 and randomly seeing your friend’s car next to you brings instant joy. Seeing your
friend’s parents driving that same car into a hospital instantly brings mixed emotions and
thoughts to me. Although thinking nothing of it, I kept on driving and yet only a few
seconds later I received a text that I will never forget. “Chuck passed away in a
motorcycle accident” were the words that brought me to complete lifelessness. The words
didn’t process at first because no one ever wants to read those words, so I pulled over into
a nearby parking lot and stared at that text. Sitting there in my car I was speechless and
simply did not know what to do. Calling my brother and friend to make sure that it was
actually true; I felt no emotion as my body filled with sorrow. Never experiencing a death
to someone in my life I had no idea how to handle such a thing, especially it being one of
my best friends.
Charles “Chuck” Kyeremeh Jr. passed away on July 10, 2011 and he was only
twenty years old. This sudden change to my life was the last thing that I was expecting
during the summer going into my senior year of high school. Your senior year of high
school is supposed to be one of the best times of your life and it simply didn’t feel that
way with this unexpected tragedy. Still unbelievable to this day, I needed something to
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guide me past this death and that thing was such a simple and pure word, faith. I knew
there was an instant connection when I realized that Charles’ most favorite quote “I walk
by faith not by sight” not only had the word faith in it, but the quote had such a strong
meaning to me. This quote really made me think about what faith actually meant and how
people incorporate faith within their lives and I knew that the quote was telling me not to
follow what looks the best and what everyone else is doing, but follow what your
instincts tell you what is right. An example from my life that involves an example of me
using my faith directly correlates to the death of Charles. I saw that everyone was
mourning over his death and telling how sad they were to everyone, but I simply knew
that I would be happy and not sad with the situation. I thought of all of the great times
that I have had with Charles and how lucky I was to have had such an amazing person
enter my life. Also I knew that he would not want us to be sad and look on the bright side
of things so I would just try to be as happy as he always was. I first met Charles my
sophomore year of high school when I joined the varsity football team. Being his senior
year and seeing how much of an amazing athlete he was, I knew that I wanted to be just
like him when it was my senior year. Besides being an amazing person with an
outstanding personality, he was one heck of an athlete that excelled in football,
basketball, and track and field. Long story short I followed my instincts and knew if I
wanted to be like Charles, I would also do the same sports, which I did. I became very
close to Charles through the three same sports that we played and he quickly became not
only a mentor, but also a very close friend.
Although it was only one year that I got the privilege to play sports with Charles,
it felt like three years with each sport that I played with him and everything that I learned
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from him. Our friendship quickly moved outside of sports and he became like a brother to
me. I will never forget the day where my mom was talking to Charles and jokingly said to
him that he needs to watch over me because he was older than me. Charles replied back
jokingly but I knew he was also serious when he said that he’d always look after me
because I’m like his brother. The next time I majorly saw the use of faith in my life was
going into my senior year of football. Our high school is known for not having the
greatest football program but with the help of faith and some talking to Charles, I looked
past the stats and facts and followed my gut feeling that it would be the right thing to
continue playing football into my senior year because I knew that it was the right thing
and Chuck would do the same. As I continued my football career, Charles also took his
talents to the University of Maine where he was receiving and full-ride scholarship to
play football. Although being red shirted his freshman year and not ever actually getting
much of any college playing time brings me to where I am today. Coming into my
freshman year of college I was undecided if I wanted to continue my football career. I
couldn’t figure out what was holding me back but something was. With talk from my
parents and other peers, I realized that I had a talent that shouldn’t go to waste. After
making my decision that I would pursue my career I followed my faith as I knew that
Charles would have want me to play and especially play for him because he didn’t get the
chance to.
Still to this day I’m at a loss of words for this tragedy that has come into my life
and I always wonder what life today would be like with Charles still in it. I would do
anything to see him one more time but I live on with the confidence and happiness that he
walked around with. I asked my friend who was also very close to Charles what his
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thoughts on faith were and if he used faith within his own life. “With the help of faith in
my life, I can get through any task no matter how big or small, I know that faith will
guide me. The worst things in life come free to us and we can’t do anything about it, but
with faith it gives you a sense of guidance so that you can overcome obstacles that enter
your life.” The night before July 10, Charles was over at my house hanging out due to
him being home for a quick weekend before he had to be back up at school for football. I
always try thinking of the last things that we did together, or even the last words that I
said to him or that he said to me. In the end it I always end up thinking just of how much
of an impact he has had on my life and the memories that we had together. I know that
faith lead him through his life and it will do the same for me.
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