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Struggles in Life

A memoir about my life and how I dealt with tragedy’s that occurred

By: Aj Cignarella

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Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………….3

Getting Away………………………………………..4-6

Fitting In……………………………………………..7-9

Family Impact……………………………………….10-13

Tragedy……………………………………………...14-15

Conclusion……………………………………………16

About the Author……………………………………17

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Introduction   In  this  final  book  project  that  I  have  written  I  am  comparing  and  talking  

about  some  events  that  happened  in  the  book  Easter  Rising  by  Michael  Patrick  

MacDonald.  In  the  book  he  talks  about  his  entire  life  all  the  way  from  when  he  was  

young  and  living  in  Southie.  It  follows  him  throughout  his  entire  life  until  he  is  al  

grown  up.  He  describes  many  obstacles  that  he  had  encountered  and  all  the  

struggles  that  he  had  to  face  and  the  things  that  made  him  into  what  he  is  today.  In  

my  book  that  I  have  written  I  have  taken  experience’s  that  I  have  had  on  my  own  

and  I  talk  about  how  I  preserver  through  the  things  in  life  that  try  to  bring  you  

down.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Getting  Away  

 

In  this  chapter  of  my  book  I  talk  about  how  MacDonald  wants  to  get  away  

from  his  family  and  the  life  that  he  lives  in.  He  describes  that  the  “Southie”  life  that  

he  lived  in  was  terrible  and  he  always  wanted  to  get  away  from  that  life  style  of  

living  and  he  wanted  to  become  his  person.  However  every  time  he  attempts  to  get  

away  from  that  life  style  and  also  his  family,  a  tragic  incident  happens  and  he  always  

gets  back  to  his  family.  

In  the  book  Easter  Rising  by  Michael  Patrick  MacDonald  the  author  writes  a  

story  about  him  when  he  was  a  kid  in  his  teen  years  and  all  struggles,  good  times,  

changes,  and  realizations  that  he  encountered.  Throughout  this  novel  Michael  is  

trying  to  find  himself  by  changing  his  personality  and  views  on  things  in  life.  Some  

examples  in  the  book  show  that  he  is  trying  to  get  away  from  the  life  style  that  he  

was  grown  up  in  and  expected  to  grow  up.  

One  example  of  how  MacDonald  is  trying  to  get  away  from  his  family  is  when  

his  brother  Davey,  committed  suicide.  An  quote  that  helps  prove  the  fact  that  

MacDonald  was  trying  to  escape  his  family  was  “That  lazy  afternoon  before  Davey  

jumped,  when  all  I  could  think  about  was  how  hot  it  was,  was  the  last  time  I  felt  like  

a  kid  again  with  nothing  much  to  worry  about.”  This  is  a  quote  that  shows  how  

much  Mike  cared  for  Davey  and  the  death  of  Davey  changed  Mike’s  life  because  he  

did  have  a  hard  time  of  moving  on.  Also,  he  was  talking  about  all  the  things  Davey  

said  or  did  to  other  people  like  when  he  was  telling  the  young  kids  about  the  Pied  

Piper.  “At  first  remembering  all  of  this  made  me  forgets  that  Davey  was  even  dead.”  

“I  looked  out  the  window  toward  a  brick  wall,  thinking  Davey  could  come  around  

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the  corner  any  minute.  And  then  it  hit  me  even  harder  than  the  last  time,  at  the  

funeral  Mass  that  morning,  which  he’d  never  be  seen  on  Patterson  Way  again.”  

These  quotes  show  that  Mike  was  having  a  tough  time  moving  on  from  the  death  

and  all  he  wanted  to  was  escape  everybody  that  was  around  him  and  all  he  wanted  

to  do  was  be  by  himself,  but  it  was  difficult  for  him  because  he  was  with  so  many  

people  and  it  was  tough  to  get  away.  After  a  while  when  he  decided  that  he  wanted  

to  no  longer  think  of  Davey  or  see  the  sad  faces  on  everybody  in  his  family  with  

whatever  they  were  doing,  he  wanted  to  get  away.  ”I  had  to  get  away”.  All  these  

troubles  that  MacDonald  went  through  are  really  what  kick  started  him  wanting  to  

leave  his  family  and  get  away  from  the  “Southie”  life.  

Davey’s  brother  Frankie  ended  up  getting  a  job  at  one  of  the  clubs  called  the  

Ratthskeller.  This  was  a  club  that  played  the  punk  rock  type  of  music,  which  

MacDonald  was  now  into.  Even  though  these  two  are  brothers  and  Davey  allows  him  

to  go  in  through  the  back  entrance  they  do  not  speak  to  each  other  and  they  don’t  

tell  each  other’s  friends  that  they  are  brothers  because  MacDonald’s  punk  rock  

friends  call  the  body  guards  Neanderthals  and  the  bouncers  think  that  the  punk  

rockers  are  freaks.  

However  there  is  tragic  accident  s  that  brings  MacDonald  back  to  his  family  

after  him  escaping  them.  One  incident  that  happened  that  brought  MacDonald  back  

to  his  family  after  isolating  himself  was  when  his  sister  fell  of  the  roof  of  their  

apartment  and  ended  up  in  an  Acoma.  Davey  wasn’t  ever  really  that  close  with  his  

sister  but  while  she  was  in  a  coma  he  would  skip  school  all  the  time  just  to  go  visit  

her  in  the  hospital.  As  MacDonald  had  his  family  on  his  mind  over  his  friends  for  

once  he  said  “After  walking  from  Boston  city  to  the  Rat,  in  Kenmore  Square,  I  

couldn’t  bear  to  go  inside,  even  though  my  friend’s  band  was  playing  in  there.  I  

didn’t  want  to  see  anyone  I  knew.  I  felt  I  had  more  to  talk  about  with  Ma,  my  

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brothers’  and  sisters’  father  than  my  own  friends.”  To  me  I  think  that  this  quote  

shows  that  he  is  no  longer  caring  for  himself  and  is  starting  to  think  about  his  family  

again  because  other  actions  that  he  has  done  In  the  past  seems  like  he  was  only  

caring  about  himself,  like  skipping  school  and  leaving  his  birthday  party.  Also,  he  

says  that  he  wanted  to  check  and  see  if  his  brother  Frankie  was  working  that  night  

but  he  didn’t  want  Frankie  to  see  him  because  it  was  awkward  because  they  never  

had  anything  to  talk  about.  Kathy’s  incident  gives  them  a  reason  to  talk  to  each  other  

so  it  just  shows  that  MacDonald  is  trying  to  reconnect  with  his  family.      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Fitting in

This  chapter  of  the  book  is  about  an  accident  that  happened  to  one  of  my  

good  friends  and  how  it  affected  not  only  me  but  also  the  community  that  I  live  in  as  

a  whole.    This  is  one  of  the  most  tragic  events  that  have  happened  in  my  life  and  I  

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explain  how  I  struggled  dealing  with  it  at  first  but  eventually  became  past  the  

troubles  and  changed  this  accident  into  a  positive  thing  in  my  life.  

Two  years  ago  from  yesterday,  January  23  2010  a  fellow  hockey  teammate  

and  a  good  friend  of  mine  was  seriously  injured  in  a  terrible  hockey  accident.  The  

injury  to  this  young  man  had  a  major  impact  not  only  on  y  hometown  Norwood,  but  

also  many  other  towns  in  Eastern  Mass.  This  young  man’s  name  was  Matthew  

Brown.  He  was  skating  into  the  corner  of  the  rink  to  get  a  puck  when  a  player  from  

the  other  team  hit  Matthew  and  he  hit  his  head  awkwardly  into  the  boards.  Matt  

then  lied  there  unable  to  move  anything  in  his  body.  At  first  I  thought  he  wasn’t  hurt  

badly  and  that  it  was  a  minor  incident,  but  then  as  more  time  went  on  and  he  wasn’t  

moving  I  knew  that  his  injury  was  going  to  be  serious.  Waiting  for  the  ambulance  to  

come  and  take  him  off  the  ice  seemed  like  it  was  taking  hours.  My  mind  was  going  

into  many  different  directions  and  I  had  many  mixed  emotions  as  well.  I  was  sad,  

scared,  angry,  and  shocked.  The  player  that  hit  Matthew  came  over  and  apologized  

to  our  team  and  the  refs  asked  us  if  we  wanted  to  continue  the  game  or  stop  playing.  

In  honor  of  Matt  we  continued  to  play.  After  a  couple  days  passed  we  were  hearing  

updates  on  how  he  was  doing.  The  news  we  heard  wasn’t  good  at  all.  Matt  broke  his  

4th,  5th,  and  6th  vertebrae’s.  And  was  paralyzed  from  his  neck  down  to  his  toes.  Over  

the  course  of  the  next  couple  weeks  and  months  and  even  years,  the  community  and  

many  students  at  the  high  school  came  up  with  ways  to  support  Matt  and  his  family.  

Also,  people  that  were  not  part  of  the  Norwood  community  showed  ways  that  they  

could  support  matt.  Also,  many  famous  athletes  from  the  Boston  Bruins  and  even  

some  NHL  legends  found  ways  to  support  Matt.  Along  praying  for  Matthew  and  his  

family  to  have  a  speedy  recovery  a  store  in  Norwood  Center  and  a  student  at  

Norwood  high  made  many  different  cool  looking  t-­‐shirt  designs.  Also,  somebody  

came  up  with  an  idea  to  make  bracelets  for  people  to  buy.  Another  idea  that  

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somebody  had  was  to  make  sweatbands  for  people  to  buy  as  well.  All  profits  that  

these  businesses  and  people  made  off  of  these  ideas  were  given  to  the  Brown  family  

to  help  for  insurance  and  things  that  they  needed.  Also,  there  were  many  

fundraisers  that  were  held  for  Matt  at  many  different  places  held  in  Norwood  and  

also  other  places  like  Gillette  Stadium  and  the  TD  Bank  north  Garden  which  we  as  a  

team  would  go  to  and  may  adults  from  all  over  Mass  would  come  to  in  a  way  to  

support  Matthew.  Also  for  the  rest  of  the  hockey  season  our  team  and  many  other  

teams  in  our  division  wore  the  number  3  sticker  on  our  helmets  and  we  had  the  

number  3  patched  into  our  jerseys.  Matthew  is  now  a  senior  at  Norwood  High  

School  and  he  is  still  in  a  wheel  chair  but  he’s  making  great  steps  towards  getting  

better.  He  now  is  able  to  move  some  of  his  toes  and  fingers  and  he  is  still  the  same  

kid  that  we  all  knew  and  loved  before  his  injury.  This  is  an  incident  that  made  me  

feel  like  I  was  part  of  my  town  and  the  Norwood  community  and  that  I  actually  had  a  

part  in  something  special.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Family  Impact  

This  chapter  talks  about  how  MacDonald  grew  up  and  how  is  entire  family  

affected  him  in  someway.  Most  of  his  family  effected  MacDonald  in  a  positive  way  

but  there  are  some  events  that  affected  him  negatively.  

 

In  the  book  Easter  Rising  by  Michael  Patrick  MacDonald  the  author  writes  a  

story  about  him  when  he  was  a  kid  in  his  teen  years  and  his  entire  life  growing  up.  

Macdonald  talks  about  all  of  the  struggles  that  he  has  within  his  family  and  also  

about  what  role  his  family  plays  in  his  life.  Macdonald  has  many  things  that  have  or  

had  an  impact  on  his  life  throughout  the  book.  His  family  plays  a  major  role  in  his  

life  ranging  from  his  dead  brother  Davey,  his  brother  Frankie,  his  mother  and  his  

sister.  Also,  when  MacDonald  finds  out  that  his  father  is  dead  and  discovers  his  

family  and  his  “roots”  in  Ireland.  All  members  of  his  family  both  have  a  positive  and  

negative  impact  on  him.    

Davey,  Mike’s  brother,  committing  suicide  had  an  impact  on  his  life.  One  way  

that  him  dying  left  an  impact  on  Mike  is  after  Davey  jumped  Mike  didn’t  no  if  he  was  

ok  or  not  and  when  he  heard  his  mother  tell  his  older  brother  that  Davey  was  gone,  

and  that  he  died  of  a  burst  spleen  Mike  responded  “I  didn’t  even  have  it  in  me  to  

wonder  what  a  spleen  was,  or  to  care.  I  felt  connected  to  nothing  and  to  nobody.”  

This  quote  shows  that  Mike  looked  up  to  Davey  and  he  was  so  close  to  him  even  

though  Davey  had  cared  more  about  his  homeless  friends  than  his  own  family.  “That  

lazy  afternoon  before  Davey  jumped,  when  all  I  could  think  about  was  how  hot  it  

was,  was  the  last  time  I  felt  like  a  kid  again  with  nothing  much  to  worry  about.”  This  

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is  another  quote  that  shows  how  much  Mike  cared  for  Davey  and  the  death  of  Davey  

changing  Mike’s  life.  After  the  death  of  Davey,  Mike  tried  to  get  back  to  the  normal  

life  by  listening  to  what  the  kids  on  the  street  were  doing  but  everything  reminded  

him  of  Davey  and  he  had  a  hard  time  of  moving  on.  Also,  he  was  talking  about  all  the  

things  Davey  said  or  did  to  other  people  like  when  he  was  telling  the  young  kids  

about  the  Pied  Piper.  “At  first  remembering  all  of  this  made  me  forget  that  Davey  

was  even  dead.”  “I  looked  out  the  window  toward  a  brick  wall,  thinking  Davey  could  

come  around  the  corner  any  minute.  And  then  it  hit  me  even  harder  than  the  last  

time,  at  the  funeral  Mass  that  morning  that  he’d  never  be  seen  on  Patterson  Way  

again.”  These  quotes  show  that  MacDonald  was  having  a  tough  time  moving  on  from  

the  death  and  all  he  wanted  to  was  escape  everybody  that  was  around  him  and  all  

he  wanted  to  do  was  be  by  himself,  but  it  was  difficult  for  him  because  he  was  with  

so  many  people  and  it  was  tough  to  get  away.  After  a  while  when  he  decided  that  he  

wanted  to  no  longer  think  of  Davey  or  see  the  sad  faces  on  everybody  in  his  family  

with  whatever  they  were  doing,  he  wanted  to  get  away.  ”I  had  to  get  away.”  

Members  of  Davey’s  family  also  had  an  impact  on  his  life.  When  he  bought  his  

first  record  the  Sex  Pistols  he  was  scared  to  have  his  family  see  him  with  it  because  

he  thought  that  they  would  think  he  is  a  weirdo  because  according  to  everybody  in  

Southie  people  who  listened  to  Punk  Rock  were  weirdoes.  Another  incident  in  which  

his  family  had  an  impact  on  his  life  was  when  they  first  saw  his  new  hair  cut  that  he  

gave  himself,  they  all  laughed  at  him  and  made  fun  of  it.  Even  though  his  family  

thought  that  he  looked  weird,  none  of  them  disclosed  him  or  anything.  Frankie  

allows  him  to  be  part  of  his  punk  rock  community  when  he  gets  a  job  as  being  a  

bouncer  at  the  Rathskeller  which  was  one  of  the  clubs  that  had  punk  rock  bands  

play  and  now  he  would  easily  be  able  to  see  a  lot  of  the  shows  that  he  wasn’t  able  to  

before  because  he  was  underage  for  the  concerts.  His  brother  allowed  him  to  enter  

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all  of  the  shows  that  were  playing  there  as  long  as  it  was  on  a  weekend  and  not  a  

weekday.  Also,  Frankie  told  Mike  to  not  tell  anybody  that  they  were  brothers  

because  he  was  too  embarrassed  and  Mike  felt  the  same  way,  he  to  thought  it  was  

embarrassing  because  all  the  people  inside  the  club  talked  bad  about  the  bouncers.  

Everybody  in  Mike’s  family  has  an  impact  on  his  direction  in  life.  Whether  it’s  a  good  

or  bad  thing,  they  all  play  a  role.  Later  on  in  the  book  when  they  move  to  New  York  

Frankie  ends  up  being  killed  in  a  robbery  and  the  last  encounter  that  MacDonald  

had  with  Frankie  was  when  he  saw  him  walking  down  the  street  MacDonald  

immediately  turned  the  corner  so  he  didn’t  have  to  talk  to  him.  After  Frankie’s  death  

MacDonald  regrets  his  decision  but  doesn’t  tell  anybody  about  his  secret    

MacDonald  is  over  in  Europe  and  he  doesn’t  have  enough  money  to  get  home.  

So  he  calls  his  grandfather  and  he  agrees  to  send  MacDonald  money  as  long  as  he  

goes  off  to  Ireland.  MacDonald  agrees  and  at  first  he  has  no  interest  in  going  to  

Ireland  and  he  already  hates  it.  However  after  he  visits  his  family  he  becomes  

intrigued  with  them  and  he  wants  to  go  back  and  he  doesn’t  want  to  leave.  When  

him  and  his  mom  travel  there  together  later  on  he  talks  about  where  members  of  his  

family  are  now  and  what  he  did  with  his  life  after  he  came  back  from  his  first  trip  to  

Ireland.  His  grandfather  played  a  major  role  in  MacDonald’s  life  because  prior  to  

Mac  visiting  Ireland  he  wasn’t  heading  out  of  the  Southie  life  style  that  he  was  

supposed  to  grow  up  and  become,  he  realized  that  he  wanted  to  learn  more  about  

Irish  American  history  and  wanted  to  help  Southie  realize  what  it  means  to  be  Irish  

and  not  be  the  Irish  of  Southie  that  he  called  them.  “I’d  come  away  from  my  first  trip  

to  Ireland  wanting  to  understand  more  about  Southie,  and  Irish  America  in  general,  

but  also  more  about  my  own  family.”  At  the  beginning  of  the  book  Macdonald  was  

just  trying  to  find  himself  and  didn’t  care  much  about  his  family  or  origins  or  

 14  

anything  at  all  really.  So  his  grandfather  forcing  him  to  go  to  Ireland  was  really  a  

blessing  in  disguise  and  it  helped  Macdonald  change  whom  he  was.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 15  

 

 

Tragedy  

My  mom  and  brother  were  diving  home  from  one  of  my  brother’s  hockey  

games  one  night  in  the  cold  month  of  December  a  few  years  back.  A  drunk  driver  hit  

my  mother  and  brother  and  they  were  both  seriously  injured.  They  were  both  

rushed  to  the  hospital  and  were  taking  into  care  immediately.  They  are  both  now  

fine  but  at  the  time  I  was  scary.  

When  my  father  called  me  and  first  told  me  that  they  were  in  a  car  accident  

heard  and  were  now  in  the  hospital  I  broke  down  and  started  crying  and  had  to  

leave  my  friend’s  house  immediately.  At  the  time  I  so  many  mixed  emotions  going  

through  my  head.  I  was  shocked,  I  was  sad,  I  was  scared  and  I  was  angry  but  I  didn’t  

know  why  I  was  just  feeling  these  things,  I  guess  it  was  just  instinct  to  get  scared  

and  sad  when  a  tragic  thing  happened  in  one’s  life.  I  just  couldn’t  understand  how  

and  why  this  happened  because  I  have  never  had  that  experience  before  in  my  life  

and  I  really  just  didn’t  know  how  to  handle  it  and  I  just  wanted  to  be  by  myself  for  a  

while  and  for  the  next  few  days  before  I  went  to  visit  in  them  in  the  hospital  I  would  

hang  by  myself  in  my  room  or  walk  around  the  town  and  not  talk  to  anybody.  After  a  

while  when  they  were  in  the  hospital  and  I  pulled  myself  together,  I  would  go  in  

there  every  day  and  check  on  how  they  were  doing  because  I  was  scared  for  my  

family.  I  stopped  hanging  out  with  my  friends  for  a  while  and  just  spent  time  with  

family,  which  was  strange  because  I  was  closer  with  my  friends  than  I  was  with  my  

own  family.  I  completely  cut  myself  out  from  the  world  because  nothing  else  

mattered  to  me  except  there  health.  

 16  

The  tragic  incident  definitely  brought  me  closer  to  my  family  because  at  the  

moment  I  realized  that  family  is  the  most  important  thing  in  your  life.  Before  the  

accident  I  was  never  around  my  family  as  much  because  I  wasn’t  close  to  anybody  

really  besides  my  father  and  he  doesn’t  live  with  in  my  town  so  I  only  got  to  and  get  

to  see  him  one  day  a  week.  Also,  I  would  always  be  with  my  friends  even  on  holidays  

like  Easter  and  Thanksgiving,  I  would  leave  my  family  later  on  in  the  day  to  go  hang  

with  friends.  There  would  be  times  where  I  would  tell  my  friends  stuff  about  myself  

that  I  should  probably  have  told  my  parents  or  someone  in  my  family.  That’s  how  

distant  I  was  from  my  family  and  relatives.    

The  accident  really  changed  my  attitude  and  perception  towards  things.  This  

was  the  first  time  I  actually  realized  and  was  hit  hard  by  the  saying  that  you  should  

never  take  what  you  have  for  granite  and  you  should  cherish  every  moment  you  

have  with  the  things  that  surround  you  because  at  any  moment  they  can  be  taken  

away  from  you.  Prior  to  the  accident  I  didn’t  cherish  anything  that  I  had  in  my  life  

and  took  everything  for  granite.  I  didn’t  appreciate  having  everybody  alive  in  my  

family  or  any  of  the  friends  that  I  had,  and  this  accident  completely  turned  my  

thoughts  and  attitude  towards  things  in  life.    

Now  I  am  very  thankful  for  everything  that  I  have  in  this  world  which  

grows  from  my  family  to  my  great  friends,  both  who  have  always  stuck  beside  me  in  

bad  moments  in  life.    

 

 

 

 

 

 17  

 

Conclusion  

 

  The  events  in  the  book  Easter  Rising  are  similar  to  the  events  that  have  

occurred  in  my  life.  I  have  learned  that  in  everybody’s  life  there  is  always  going  to  be  

something  tragic  that  happens  and  it  is  going  to  affect  everyone  in  a  different  way.  

Everybody  has  to  learn  to  move  past  these  tragic  incidents  that  occur.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 18  

 

 

About  the  Author    

  Aaron  Cignarella  was  born  on  November  9,  1993.  He  grew  up  in  Norwood,  

Massachusetts,  which  is  in  Eastern  MA.  He  graduated  from  Norwood  High  School  

back  in  2010  where  he  played  football,  baseball  and  hockey.  He  went  on  to  become  a  

student  at  Nichols  College  where  he  is  majoring  in  Criminal  Justice.  He  is  still  a  

current  student  there  in  his  freshman  year.  He  plans  to  go  on  and  graduate  college  

and  become  part  of  the  criminal  justice  field  when  he’s  older.