the rumbling.

If you look at my dad you would think he was healthy. Tall, average weight, well put together. Healthy physically and mentally. At least that was what i thought until i witnessed something no five year old should ever witness.

Stage 1: Confusion.

I woke up in my parent's room, with no memory of how I got there. All I remember was feeling a lot of movement and lying down in the same bed as my sister and father. The light flickered on. "Hi Daddy!" i said uncomfortably. Something wasn't right. He didn't respond. He had a loss of awareness. He slowly rose from the bed, walked into the bathroom, and proceeded to pee in the sink. Major freaking red flags.

Stage 2: Chewing.

As my dad came back to lie down, I continued to ask if he was ok. Still got no response. I had no one. Everyone in my house was asleep and I was getting worried. Then all I heard was chewing. "Charlene, wake up," I whispered, shaking her frantically. More chewing. "CHARLENE! GET UP!" I dragged her out of bed as a crimson liquid gushed out of my dad's mouth.

Stage 3: Seizing.

My half-awake sister and I watched in bewilderment as my dad began to shake uncontrollably. Fear succumbed to our little bodies as we watched him quake non-stop. We then hid in our room for the rest of the night

Stage 4: Repeat.

We fell asleep to the never-ending quaking. He just kept seizing. At one point, we heard a huge thud. He had fallen off the bed. My sister and I cried with guilt engulfing our bodies. We couldn't do anything to help him.

Stage 5: Discovery.

A loud blaring siren woke me up. By siren, I mean my aunt. She was wailing and screaming. "WOY! MEN CHARLEMAGNE PRAN MALADI A ANKO!" (oh my god! Charlemagne is seizing again). Everything else was a blur. They stuffed my sister and I into my other Aunt's room. The ambulance lights, the loud thumping as they carried my father down the stairs, my aunt's crying. Everything happened so quickly. Next thing I knew, my father was off to the hospital. My mother had come home from work, looking as if a tornado had torn through her house. She saw these seizures more often than I did but she still couldn't help but feel emotional.

Stage 6: Remembering.

Since that day, I've always kept a close eye on my father. Majority of his seizures would happen at night when he was sleeping, but there were times when he'd have them when he was watching TV or even at work. I even get worried if he starts chewing irregularly when he's eating. This seizure disorder will always be part of my dad. He's chained to it. He can't escape from it. But he never let that stop him from being successful, and I'm proud of him for that.