an essay that made my english teacher cry ryan harman

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Ryan Harman: the Essay That Made the Teacher Cry

Table of contents, bittersweet moments before tragedy, processing loss and the rollercoaster of emotions, a teen’s tribute resonates.

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HEARTWRENCHING

Read This Teen's Essay About Her Mom That Has Everyone Ugly Crying On TikTok

A teenager's heartbreaking essay has gone viral, leaving TikTok users sobbing.

At age 18 Ryan Harmann wrote a gut-wrenching piece after losing her mother to cancer. Harmann shared the beautiful piece on her TikTok this week, saying it "made her English professor cry." Well, now we're all crying.

The TikTok video has been viewed almost seven million times and racked up more than one million likes, despite just being screenshots of the essay. We've transcribed them all here for easier reading.

It was May of 2022, when my life was supposed to be at its peak, until one day it wasn't. I had high school graduation and senior week at the beach with my graduating class. I was starting my adulthood and my college career and I couldn't have been happier. In January of 2021, my mom got diagnosed with Sarcoma Cancer and had to undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatments. From the day she was diagnosed, she lost a different part of her life everyday. She was strong, resilient, loving, caring and most of all the best mom anyone could ask for. She never asked the doctors for a time expectancy, she wanted to live the best she could with her three children and her husband. My mom had a goal from the start, to watch me go to my senior prom and to see me and my sister, Madeleine, walk across the stage at graduation. She achieved both of those goals.

May 26, 2022, I walked across that stage at graduation, with my mom in a wheelchair watching proudly. The first step I took on that stage, I felt her overwhelming amount of love and knew she was she proud and that was all that mattered in that moment. After I graduated, I received a text, "I love you so so much and am so proud of you." Those words felt like I just won the Super Bowl. She didn't get out of the house much so her being able to attend graduation was a big accomplishment and it took a lot out of her. We had a celebratory dinner at home and she was too exhausted to stay awake for dinner. Although it was upsetting that she wasn't at dinner, I was just thankful she was able to be there and meet her goal.

I was looking forward to going on my week-long beach trip with all of my best friends that night. All week long while I was away, I was texting my mom, telling her all of the drama going on with all of my friends and FaceTiming her. Until Friday came along and my mom stopped answering my texts and my FaceTime calls. I was a little worried and debated texting my dad to see if she was okay, but I let it go and continued on with my last night at the beach.

I was excited to get back home and tell my family all about the week I had. Instead, I came home to my mom in bed and my dad sat me and my two older siblings down and told us that our mom wasn't doing well and he was very worried. At the time, I was thinking my dad was freaking out and exaggerating and that she was going to be OK. After a lot of thinking, my dad decided to take her to the hospital. She walked from her room, downstairs and into the car. At the hospital, they told her that her spine is 75 percent collapsed because of the tumors growing rapidly. I thought to myself that my mom was a superstar, she just walked on a spine that almost was completely collapsed. From that point on, my mom entered hospice care and did not get back up from her bed.

We called all of our family and friends and let them know that her life was coming to an end. The first couple days following her entering hospice care, I was in shock, I didn't believe that my mom was going to die when I was only 18 years old. I remember sending a text to my sister, Madeleine, and asking "Is Mom going to die?" Her response was, "In a few weeks, yeah." My heart shattered into a million pieces. I knew from that point on, I was going to take advantage of the time left with my mom and not have any regrets. I did not want to look back at the last few weeks I had left with my mom and think "I wish I spent more time with her" so I did everything in my power to protect my future self from regret. As friends and family members were coming by, I was laying in bed right next to my mom, holding her hand. I couldn't imagine what my life was going to become. My mom reminded as daily that she loved us and that when she passes, she wants us to move forward. She told us, "When I take my last breath, I want you guys to dance, don't cry, dance."

Days started to blur together as my mom went in and out of consciousness for the next couple weeks. I remember sitting in bed, with my door open and my parents bedroom door open too, scared that I would hear her take her last breath. She started talking in her sleep and talking to her deceased mother telling her that she would see her soon.

The stress that my family endured is not something I would not wish on anyone. We were on lockdown, spending time with my mom and watching her slowly go through the different stages of death. I was in a mental block, I wasn't eating as much as I should've, my main focus was spending as much time as I could with her. On July 7th, my mom said to my dad "I'm so tired I need to go, I will see you later," as she closed her eyes. My dad came down the stairs and told us we all need to go say our final goodbyes. My older siblings went up first. I started pacing back and forth, I did not want to say bye to my best friend. I started my journey up the stairs, with tears rolling down my cheeks, and I stopped, I couldn't do it. I walked into my parents bathroom until I built the courage to go and say goodbye. I walked to my mom, kissed her on the forehead and told her I would see her later and that I loved her.

When the news spread that it might be the day she passed, family members were coming to say their goodbyes, until my mom randomly woke up. At this point, she has been in hospice for 4.5 weeks. When she opened her eyes, I was upset. I was upset my mom was alive. I felt like such a horrible human. I walked outside with my heart in my stomach as I saw my dad leaned over crying talking on the phone. I couldn't imagine going through the process of saying goodbye again. My mom was up and talking for about 5 more days until she went back into a state of total unconsciousness. My dad decided to kick me and my siblings out, and send us to our aunt's house at the beach because he didn't want us to see her in that state anymore.

The beach was my moms favorite place. She would sit on the beach from 9 AM-5 PM every chance she would get. She would take any chance she got to go to the beach, especially since it meant spending more time with her kids. She always had a Grapefruit Crush in her hand and soaked up the sun. She looked so beautiful on the beach and she was in her element. I was sitting on the beach, and had a thought that I needed to tell my mom, but realized I couldn't. My mom was still alive, but I couldn't talk to her. I felt weak. I didn't want this to be the end. I had tears in my eyes as my sister said "Ryan, me and Tommy (my brother) are going to go to Jason Aldean on Sunday, do you want to go? I wanted to go, but for some reason the word "no" came out of my mouth. From that moment forward, all I could think about was my mom. I told my siblings I wanted to go back home that night, I couldn't be away from mom anymore.

When we got back home, there was no change in my moms status. We were told, by hospice, to leave her be and she will go on her own. A few days after returning home from the beach, I woke up and my siblings got ready to go to the concert as me and my dad stayed home with my mom. Around 3 PM, I took a nap and woke up to my dad coming out of their room and said "can you go check her breathing?" I went in and she had the death rattle, I knew today was the day. From then on, my dad and I alternated going in and checking on her until about 7:30. We layed in bed with her and realized her skin was ice cold. I layed there until I couldn't anymore, and I went downstairs. Around 9 PM, my worst nightmare came true. I heard my dads footsteps, and turned the corner and said "I think so, I think she's gone." I had never felt a true heart break and such emptiness ever.

We then had to call my siblings at the concert. We called each of them about 20 times. My brother finally picked up and we had to tell them over the phone. I heard my sister scream and sob, that was the moment where I realized this is real life. Friends and family members started trickling in, I met my siblings outside and hugged them in the driveway as they came home from the concert. My sister looked up at me and said, "we didn't answer your calls because we were dancing. We were dancing when mom took her last breath, just like she wanted." I felt relief in this moment, my mom passed away just the way she wanted to and I knew she wasn't in pain anymore.

As I continue living life without my mom, I realize every single thing I do is to make her proud. I have matured and grown as an individual. As I am constantly paralyzed by the pain that is caused by her death, I remind myself that I am lucky enough to feel this great amount of pain because my mother was such a phenomenal person. There is nothing I wish more than to be able to pick up the phone and call my mom, but I feel peace that she is watching over me and sees my every move. She fought her hardest fight for a month and half to give us the time we desperately needed to say goodbye to her, and for that, I will forever be grateful. I celebrate her existence everyday and am so incredibly grateful to have the best Angel looking over me.

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Dear author, your poignant article about the loss of your mother touched my soul. The depth of your emotions and the vulnerability in your words brought tears to my eyes. I am truly sorry for your loss and can only imagine the pain you must be feeling. May your mother's soul rest in eternal peace, and may you find solace and strength in the cherished memories you shared. Sending prayers and healing thoughts your way.

In my prayers.

I have been there. I'm really excited that you got that experience, some people go through life and never know This makes us all more understanding of life and death. Yeah it's hard but,I would not have missed it for anything. Praying for you and your family

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Breaking news, i wrote an essay about my mom’s death — it made my professor cry.

Ryan Harman lost her mom to cancer last year.

In an essay for her English class, she divulged the heart-wrenching journey from diagnosis to death — bringing the internet and her West Virginia University professor to tears.

Harman shared the lengthy text in a viral TikTok video this week, garnering more than 13 million views and 45,000 teary responses.

At a time when her life was “supposed to be at its peak,” everything fell apart, she wrote, explaining that her mom was diagnosed with sarcoma, which invades bones and soft tissue , in 2021.

Harman went on to write that her mom got to see her and her sister graduate from high school, but it wasn’t until the newly minted graduate was on a celebratory beach trip with friends that things went downhill.

Her mom stopped replying to texts and calls, and when Harman returned home, her mom was bedridden with a 75% collapsed spine due to tumor growth.

Dedicated to a life of no regrets, Harman spent as much time as possible with her mom, laying in bed with her, holding her hand.

“She told us, ‘When I take my last breath, I want you guys to dance, don’t cry, dance,'” Harman wrote, expressing shock that she would be losing her mother at just 18.

In the summer of 2022, Harman’s siblings attended a Jason Aldean concert while she opted to stay home — that ended up being the night their mom died. Harman and her father rang them “about 20 times” until someone picked up.

When they arrived home, Harman’s sister said: “We didn’t answer your calls because we were dancing. We were dancing when mom took her last breath, just like she wanted.”

That was the line that choked up viewers .

“The dancing part got me,” one viewer admitted. “I am so sorry for your loss.”

“‘We didn’t answer your calls because we were dancing,'” another quoted. “I lost it.”

“I can’t stop crying,” confessed someone else.

“This broke my heart in the most beautiful way,” a TikToker agreed.

Some invested readers even made their own videos in response, many showing themselves tearing up or fully crying .

“No bc that essay deserves an award,” one user wrote on a clip .

“Me sobbing in the middle of work bc I read the essay,” shared another person on their own video . “‘We didn’t answer bc we were dancing.'”

The Post has reached out to Harman for comment.

“There is nothing I wish more than to be able to pick up the phone and call my mom, but I feel peace that she is watching over me and sees my every move,” Harman wrote.

“I celebrate her existence everyday and am so incredibly grateful to have the best Angel looking over me,” she concluded the essay.

Advertisement

Teen's heartbreaking essay about caring for mum dying of cancer leaves readers in tears

Ryan harman shared an essay she wrote to describe her emotions during her mother's battle with cancer on tiktok. she said the essay made her english professor cry.

• 22:20, 20 May 2023
• Updated 12:51, 21 May 2023

A teenager's heartfelt essay about her mother's passing captured the profound love, loss, and resilience experienced during their final moments together .

Ryan Harman shared the essay, which she wrote for her English class, with her followers on TikTok, saying it made her professor cry.

The videos went viral and thousands of people commented with their emotional reactions to the tragedy.

In the essay, Ryan Harman shares her experience of her mother's battle with sarcoma cancer and her eventual passing.

In May 2022, Ryan says she was excited about her high school graduation and senior week, but her mother's illness cast a shadow over her joy.

"From the day she was diagnosed, she lost a different part of her life every day," she says.

Despite her declining health, her mother had two goals, she says: to attend her senior prom and witness her graduation, both of which she accomplished.

Ryan described the moment: "May 26, 2022, I walked across that stage at graduation, with my mom in a wheelchair watching proudly.

"The first step I took on that stage, I felt her overwhelming amount of love and knew she was so proud and that was all that mattered in that moment."

After graduation, Ryan's mother's condition worsened, and she entered hospice care.

"I was excited to get back home and tell my family all about the week I had. Instead, I came home to my mom in bed and my dad sat me and my two older siblings down and told us that our mom wasn’t doing well and he was very worried," she writes.

And adds: "I remember sending a text to my sister, Madeleine, and asking 'Is Mom going to die?' Her response was, 'In a few weeks, yeah.' My heart shattered into a million pieces."

The family spent their remaining time with her, cherishing every moment.

"Days started to blur together as my mom went in and out of consciousness for the next couple weeks," said Ryan.

"When the news spread that it might be the day she passed, family members were coming to say their goodbyes, until my mom randomly woke up. At this point, she has been in hospice for 4.5 weeks."

And she admitted: "When she opened her eyes, I was upset. I was upset my mom was alive. I felt like such a horrible human."

Eventually, the mother passed away, and Ryan recounts the emotional journey of saying goodbye and dealing with the aftermath.

She described her emotions at the moment she found out her mother passed, writing: "I had never felt a true heartbreak and such emptiness ever."

She wrote that she finds solace in the fact that her mother's passing occurred just as she wanted, and she strives to live her life in a way that would make her proud.

"There is nothing I wish more than to be able to pick up the phone and call my mom, but I feel peace that she is watching over me and sees my every move," says the teenager.

Despite the pain of losing her mother, she said she feels grateful for the time they had with her and believes that she is now her 'guardian angel'.

"I celebrate her existence every day and am so incredibly grateful to have the best Angel looking over me," she concluded.

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The Essay The Essay That Made My English Teacher Cry Ryan Harman

Introduction: Unveiling the Impact of Ryan Harman’s Essay

Ryan Harman’s essay stands out as a poignant testament to the transformative power of words. In this exploration, we delve into the emotional depth and literary prowess that rendered his writing so evocative, leaving an indelible mark on readers and educators alike.

Initial Impressions: The Emotional Resonance in Ryan Harman’s Writing

Upon encountering Harman’s essay, the raw emotional resonance is striking. Its initial impact was profound, stirring a range of emotions from sorrow to inspiration. The essay’s ability to evoke such sentiments from readers reveals Harman’s exceptional skill in weaving an emotional tapestry with his words.

Exploring the Writing Technique: The Power of Narrative and Emotion

Harman’s writing technique is a fusion of narrative mastery and emotional authenticity. His seamless integration of personal experiences with evocative storytelling captivates the reader’s attention from the onset.

Unpacking the Depth: Themes and Messages in Harman’s Essay

Reflective narration: the essay that made my english teacher cry ryan harman.

Harman’s adeptness in reflective narration allows readers to immerse themselves in his world, fostering a deep emotional connection through shared experiences.

Emotional Authenticity

The genuineness of Harman’s emotions transcends the written word, resonating profoundly and eliciting empathetic responses from readers.

Impactful Imagery

The skillful use of imagery in Harman’s essay paints vivid pictures, etching poignant scenes into the reader’s mind.

Impact on the Reader: Stirring Emotions and Creating Connection

Harman’s essay serves as an emotional catalyst, prompting readers to introspect, empathize, and relate to the shared human experiences portrayed within its pages.

Educational Significance: Lessons from Ryan Harman’s Writing

Harman’s essay holds invaluable lessons for aspiring writers and educators alike.

Craftsmanship in Writing

The craftsmanship exhibited by Harman underscores the importance of authenticity and emotional depth in writing, transcending technicalities.

Embracing Vulnerability

Harman’s willingness to embrace vulnerability in his writing serves as a compelling reminder of the power of genuine expression.

The Role of Empathy in Writing

The essay highlights the pivotal role empathy plays in forging a connection between the writer and the reader, fostering understanding and resonance.

Harman’s Approach and Impact: Insights from the Essay

Harman’s unique approach to storytelling and emotional expression leaves an enduring impact, serving as a guiding beacon for future writers.

Personal Growth and Transformation: Reader Responses to Harman’s Essay

The profound impact of Harman’s essay resonates in the personal growth and transformations experienced by readers, emphasizing the essay’s universal relatability.

The Essence of Effective Writing: Emotionally Charged vs. Technical Writing

Harman’s essay underscores the debate between emotionally charged writing and technically proficient content the essay that made my english teacher cry ryan harman , shedding light on the significance of emotional resonance in impactful writing.

Impact Beyond the Classroom: Harman’s Essay in Real Life Scenarios

The reverberations of Harman’s essay extend beyond the classroom, fostering discussions and prompting reflections in real-life situations, validating its enduring impact.

Conclusion: The Everlasting Impact of Ryan Harman’s Essay

Ryan Harman’s essay transcends its literary form, leaving an everlasting impression that resonates far beyond its pages. Its emotional depth, authenticity, and impactful storytelling redefine the essence of effective writing, forever etching its place in the annals of literary brilliance.