Helen Keller once said, “Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood” (Keller). December thirteenth, 2007, three days before my eighth birthday. I was at my grandmother’s house, playing “Final Fantasy Nine” with my uncle Nick, laughing, having a good time, asking him questions about the game. We were there for an hour or two, said our goodbyes, went home and got ready for bed. Laying there at eight thirty P.M. I had no idea about the news to come. Much like Helen Keller overcame not being able to communicate, I too had to overcome the fact that my uncle, who I saw smiling not even an hour before, had just killed himself in my grandmother's backyard.
Helen Keller had to overcome the obstacle of not being able to communicate which caused many problems. When Helen was a baby, around the age of two, she had gotten sick, which in turn rendered her blind and deaf. As a solution to this problem the Keller’s had hired Annie Sullivan to teach Helen. Annie, Helen’s teacher was able to teach Helen trust, obedience, and most importantly, language, which it was in her teachings, Helen overcame her obstacle.
Much like Helen, I too have had an obstacle that I overcame. My obstacle, unlike Helen’s, was and still is, the ability to understand and cope with the loss of my uncle, Nick. My father, came into my room at eight forty-five P.M. and told me everything. When, Where, Who, How. But the one he did not understand was why? Why did he do this? Hearing all this brought great grief, depression, and anxiety upon me. I overcame this obstacle with the help of a therapist, my mother and father. I talked about it with them, trying to figure out why. After many years this question is still unanswered.
Although our obstacles are different, we share some similarities. Both mine and Helen’s obstacles had to do with overcoming some sort of loss. Also  Helen and I had needed the aid of outside forces (other people) to overcome our obstacles. Both  Helen and I have had struggles in our lives, but that did not stop us from becoming who we are or were today.
Helen faced not being able to communicate, I faced the death of my uncle. I learned from Helen’s experience, that no matter how hard things may seem, there is always a brighter side to the world. I learned from my experience, that life will throw mysteries at you all the time, some solvable, some not, but you still need to try to solve everything life throws at you. In the great words of Albert Schweitzer, “Einer, der Stärke durch Überwindung der Hindernisse gewinnt besitzt die einzige Kraft, die Widrigkeiten zu überwinden kann.” which means, “One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles, possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity” (Schweitzer).

Works Cited
Keller, Helen. "Famous Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.
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Schweitzer, Albert. "Famous Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore. Web. 25 Nov. 2014. 
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