I hate my dad.
 I hate my mom.
 My parents hate me.
 AlexTurek doesn’t like it when people say things like this.
 Because he knows what it’s like not to have a dad.
 “I’m not the kind of person to stop them from saying it, but I always think to myself ‘someday, you’re going to regret saying that,’” Turek said.
 Alex went to see his father in the ICU at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh with his grandparentson Aug. 24, 2011. It would be the last time Alex would see him alive.
 Turek’s father suddenly
became ill and died. The
tragedy was a tough way for him to begin his junior year in high school.
 “They went in to see him, and they came out both crying.   We could either let him live for another 24 hours, or pull the plug,” said Alex, his jaw quivering as he averted his eyes .“It sucks to watch your dad die.  You always think you know what you’re gonna say to them when the timecomes. You always think you’ll say the right thing. But you don’t.”
 In the weeks followng, he was angry and bitter.
 “I would think about it really hard, and then I’d start to cry.  I’d cry for a
while, then I’d tell myself ‘that’s enough for today,’” Alex said.“I’d make myself stop.  I’d get up, wipe my eyes, and do whatever needed done.”
 As the months passed, Alex said he continued to have a hard time dealin with his father’s death.  He would make use of “self-destructive habits” like hitting things, because he “just didn’t know where else to put it.”
 Alex said his grades suffered at first.
 “They were pretty terrible, but that’s no excuse.  I can’t live with myself if I use that as an excuse.  It was half me being lazy, half me being a mess.”    
 “If I could talk to him again, I would tell him I love him, I miss him, and I’d give anything to have him back.  I do my best everyday not to disappoint you.”
 Chris Weimer knows exactly how Alex feels.
Weimer, a Junior, woke up that morning and realized his father “ was acting strange.  He was sitting in the living room in his chair. I asked him if he was OK and he said he felt numb, leaning forward. He got up and said he was going to take a shower. A little while later, I went up to check on him, and he said he wasn’t feeling any better.”
 Chris started down the steps, passing his stepmom on the way down.  When he was almost to the bottom, he heard a loud thud.  He then raced upstairs to find his father collapsed on the floor. 
 Gasping for air. 
 His father died suddenly without warning.
 “My favorite thing about my dad was when he helped me through hard times,” said Chris.
 But during the hardest time of his life, his dad is now gone.
 Chris relies on his family to help him through this, as he was extremely close to his father.  His mom, stepmom, and 3 siblings have all given Chris a reason to step-up and take control of his life again. 
 “I’ve gotten a job since then, and I’ve learned to appreciate my family and life so much more.”
 Although he’s made peace now, it wasn’t easy for Chris at first.
 “For the first 4 days, I probably got a total of 8 hours of sleep. I would walk past a picture, or hear something he would say, and it would trigger something and I’d break down and cry.”
 Chris returned to school Dec. 12, but by then, everything had changed.  .
 “It was weird to go back. I couldn’t concentrate, I felt lost and depressed. I didn’t know what to do, and I’d just lose my train of thought.”
 But Chris is not alone in dealing with this kind of tragedy.
 According to Mr. Ted Mizik, approximately 12 students per year suffer from parent/guardian loss.
 “I pretty much tell them all the same thing,” said Mr. Mizik. “I explain to them the grieving process, and just listen while they get it all out.  I let them know what they’re going through is completely normal, and the goal is not to fight these things, but embrace them.”
 Mr. Mizik’s goal is to help the students appreciate what they have, what they had, and be able to move on, but now with better tools- use the good memories.”
 That’s the advice Travis Jones uses to come to terms with his father’s death.
 “I learned that life is too short and to live it to its fullest.  It’s all about making memories.”
 To keep his memory alive and thriving, Travis and his family find comfort in “talking about him and laughing every day.”
 One thing Travis wants people to know about their parents is to “respect him.  Don’t take him for granted.”
 While most kids are dealing with stress from tests, relationships, and work, some kids have to deal with their whole life changing at the most unpredictable time of their lives.
 And it’s not easy.
 When Turek begins his senior year in August, he will carry with him an incredible sense of loss, one not lessened by the passing of time.
 “They always say it’s gonna get better-it’s gonna get easier,” said Alex.  “But it doesn’t.  It never goes away.  You think about it every single day, and it always hurts.  You just have to learn to deal with it.”