An Unhealthy Favorite

Author's mote: I wrote this essay to inform people about how unhealthy soda really is.  Most people know that it is unhealthy, but they usually don't know exactly how unhealthy soda really is, especially if you drink it often.

Back in 1767, Dr. Joseph Priestly invented what we call soda. Everyone loved and continues to love his carbonated drink, even though it is unhealthy. Soda is very unhealthy for multiple reasons that most people don't even know. Everyone knows that soda is bad for you, but what they don't know is how unhealthy it really is.

First, it will take calcium from your bones.  Calcium is known for strengthening your bones, but it does much more too. For example, it helps prevent arthritis, high blood pressure and colon cancer.  It also helps contract your muscles and send messages from your brain to your nerves.

Researchers say that drinking soda can increase the chance of becoming obese by 1.6 percent.  Being obese is an unhealthy life style and more people become overweight every day. Being obese could give you heart problems, joint problems, and puts you at risk for type 2 diabetes.  All of these things could ruin your life, all because you drank a little too much soda.

There is also caffeine in these irresistible drinks. Caffeine may seem like an energy boost, and it is, but while it is boosting your energy it can be doing harmful things to your body. For instance, it can force the rate your heart beat to go up and that forces your heart to work harder.  It can also make you feel jumpy or nervous and your hand may begin to shake if you have too much.

Even though soda may taste good, it is terrible for your health.  It is okay to have soda once in a while, but not very often because as you can see, it is obviously very unhealthy. The unfortunate part about soda is that there are very few people that know how unhealthy soda really is for you.

Crushed

"Bye-bye Mommy." said four-year-old Claire, as she left the church with a tight grasp on her father's hand.

"It's okay, Jake," Claire's grandmother said with a comforting voice as he held back his tears, "at least you still have the Claire, whom both you and Meg love very much.”

"But I don't have Meg!" he wailed.

"Yes you do," His mother's voice cued as she gave him a little hug, " you have her in your heart, you've had her in there since the day you got married, and probably even before that."

"It's not the same." Jake moaned as a couple of tears slid down his face.

"I know, honey, but I also know that you have a beautiful daughter who loves you and Meg more than the world." replied the wise old woman, "Make sure you love her too, for one day you will die and leave her alone on this earth to learn and to live without her parents." From that moment on, Jake made sure his daughter was truly the light of his world, the reason he woke up in the morning and the reason he tried to love again.

For the next two years Jake was busier than ever while doing his job of being a firefighter, trying to find a wife and being Claire's dad. Finally, Jake met Kate. Kate was the most beautiful, intelligent, kindest woman that Jake had met, besides Meg. She was also rich and money was something that Jake and Claire needed. The only thing standing in the way of their marriage was a little six-year-old girl, Claire.

"Now Claire," Jake would say in a cheery voice, "Kate is going to be like a new mommy for you and all three of us will live happily ever after!"

"But I already have a mommy and I love her more than Kate and I don't want a new mommy, I want my old mommy back, not Kate to pretend to be her and not anyone to pretend to be her because she is my mommy and I love her."

"You were only four, Claire!" he would scream.

"That doesn't mean that I don't know my mommy and that I don't love her."

"Claire, I know that you love your mommy and I love her too, but after a while we have to have fun in our lives again and that is what your mom would want too."

"Okay!" she finally gave in to her father's begging. Soon, Kate was engaged to Jake and the wedding was in the process of being planned.

It was a perfectly normal day; Kate was at work while Jake and Claire played with dolls and waited for a phone call from the fire department, to tell Jake they needed help. Usually, they never got a call, but today they did. "Claire, grab your shoes and get in the car. Hurry!" he called to Claire. They got in the car and drove to the site of the fire. When they got there, Jake told Claire to stay away from the fire and took her over by the chief firefighter, where she always went when Jake was called to work. Then he got dressed in his fire gear and headed into the burning building.

A few minutes later Claire heard Jake sigh weakly into his radio to the chief "I can't get out."

"What's wrong with my daddy? Go save my daddy!" cried Claire.

The chief ignored Claire and replied back to Jake through his radio, "We can't send anyone in because the building is collapsing quickly, so try your hardest to get out."

"You have to save him," cried Claire, "because if you don't, I won't have a mommy or a daddy." Tears began to pour down her face and then she got an idea. She snuck away from the chief and ran into the burning building screaming "Daddy! Where are you?" Claire ran though the building, dreaming of her father, being safe, at home, where no fire could hurt him. And then she saw him, coughing and gasping for air. "Daddy!" she screamed in relief as she ran to him. The sound of her voice soothed his cough and restored his breath at first, but then his he panicked. 'Why was Claire in a burning, collapsing building?' he wondered frantically to himself. But his body took over and leaped to Claire.

"Let's go Claire." he said in a firm, yet worried voice. He didn't even think to carry her out because of how stunned he was that she was in the fire that almost killed him. They began running out of the building, avoiding the flames and falling objects. Finally, Jake had made it outside. He turned around to see Claire running out, but instead saw something that would change his life forever. He saw Claire, but then he saw the exit of the building collapse on Claire and he ran to her as she screamed until her scream turned to nothing.

The fire had been put out and everyone came to see why there had been a scream. Jake backed away to let the paramedics take care of Claire. After they had dug her out of the collapsed building, one of the paramedics walked over to Jake and told him sorrowfully, "Your daughter is dead. We are very sorry for your loss." Jake fell to his knees, buried his face in his hands and sat there until the crowd had cleared.

Then a familiar voice said to him, "Um, Jake," Jake didn't look up to see who it was because he realized instantly that it was Kate. "I, um, wanted to talk to you about our wedding." she paused and waited for a response, but receiving none, she continued "I know this isn't the best time but that is why I, um" she paused for a moment, "wanted to break up with you" she blurted out quickly. "Jake you’re a great guy, it's just that you lost your daughter, and there was a strong bond between the two of you, and I don't want to interfere with that because I know that it is going to be a rough few years of so because you lost your wife a couple years ago and now your daughter. I'm so sorry Jake." she said before walking away.

And it was only after she left that a tear shed from his eye. After a few tears poured down his face, dripping onto the fire suit that he was still wearing, he took a deep breath, stood up, and glanced one more time at the destroyed building. He took another deep breath and walked away; trying to forget, forget why she had died.