Life

Life? What is the value of a life? There are a million and one things said by a million and one person about this topic. Everyone from Gandhi to Nietzsche had a something to say. Some say life is nothing but trails of lies and deceit. Some say it s beautiful because it is full of happiness and joy. I believe that life is a mixture of ups and downs. It s full of eventful memories both good and bad, each of them, in turn, having the power to make or break us. This is a touching story I heard of not one, but two people who learnt and understood the value of life, the value of relationships and the worth of love! Oh, I m forgetting my manners. Hi! I m Lindsay. I am turning 4 this coming Christmas. I love the fact I was born on Christmas, because everybody is happy and is in the Christmas spirit. This Christmas, granny is coming home. She always comes to our house to celebrate Christmas with my family and I. Granny was the most loving and caring grandma one could ever have. Today s Christmas Eve and I am beside myself because granny will be arriving tomorrow. When I woke up this morning the only thing on my mind was my granny s arrival. I miss her tremendously. The day passed by uneventfully but thought of granny and spending Christmas with her was foremost in my mind the entire time. Before I knew it, it was already bedtime. I was still hyper, I couldn t sleep but mom held fast to her ground rules. She tucked me in and read me a bedtime story. Somehow, I fell asleep. Then I heard granny s voice. Lindsay, honey come on down here sweetheart, granny is here. I leapt out of my bed screaming GRANNY!! I ran down the stairs but to my disappointment the living room was empty. Immediately warm tears streamed down my cheeks. Mom heard the quiet sobs and came down. Lindsay, what are you doing down here at 6.00am? Where s Granny? I muttered as I sobbed on. She ll be here in the morning dear, go on get some sleep. Granny wouldn t want to be greeted with a sleepy face would she? She carried me back to my bed, tugged me, gave me a goodnight s kiss and went back to her room. I lay wide awake. Ten minutes passed, I still couldn t sleep so I tried counting sheeps. 1, 2, 3 4 Then I heard granny calling me again. Was that a figment of my imagination? Before I could even consider it, I flung my covers away and was downstairs in a flash. There I saw her, my granny, sitting on the couch with a big smile on her face. I ran and gave her a hug. Granny teased me, sunshine is that your tightest hug? Come on give me a BEAR hug.

So I hugged her really tight. Then, grandma told me to go and have some sleep because she didn t want me to be cranky in the morning. And I fell asleep in her arms. I woke up at 9.00 in the morning, finding myself tired after Granny s visit. I guess grandma must have carried me back to bed in the early hours of the morning; she s such an incredibly strong woman. She s the best grandma ever! I got off my bed and headed down to the kitchen where I found mommy crying. I asked her, Why are you crying mommy? She acknowledged my presence with a nod. She looked at me with those tear stained, strained eyes and said, Grandma won t be joining us for Christmas honey. I went into a state of shock; I could only muster a tiny Why? My eyes started tearing and my voice quavered. Grandma isn t here because she went to a beautiful place, Mom said gently. really? , I asked, like the flower garden we saw on TV? I ventured. Mom replied, Yes, like the one we saw on TV but far better. What is the name of the place because I too want to go there I asked curiously. She said it was heaven and that grandma will be flying with beautiful angels. I asked mom whether grandma was dead. She said no and that grandma will always be alive in our hearts. I explained to mom that grandma was here with me and that she took me to bed. Then, mom told me that granny could not have been here because she died at 6.10 in the morning. I was appalled and ran up to my room. I buried my face into my favorite blanket; the one grandma gave me last Christmas. I held it close to my heart and recollected last night. I gathered the blanket and covered my face with it while crying my heart out. I thought I could never stop. Lips quavered and hands trembled, but a deep joy settled in my heart; the heart of a broken girl who had a special visit from her favorite grandma .. I stood at grandma s grave two days later, broken hearted- so fragile, so vulnerable. Similar to the other girl who stood over a tombstone just fifty blocks away. She was looking tenderly at the picture of her boyfriend, so handsome, young and full of life. What a contrast to the grey background of the tombstone. She knew from the bottom of her heart that he loved her and he would not like to see her like this. This broken form. He would want her to smile and move on. Could she do it? She wasn't sure, but she had to try. She had beautiful memories of their days together. Of their beautiful love, days filled with riding the motorbike, stolen kisses and of sneak outs. He knew she would do anything for

him. Anything! Anything because her love for him was so deep and she would do anything he asked of her. "Anything! She would do anything." Those words echoed inside the young man s head as he rode the motorbike across the desert road with a girl leaning closely behind him. They were going over a 100 mph. It freaked the girl who asks the boy to slow down. The boy tries to calm her down and reassures her by telling her that he knew what he was doing. But the terrified girl insisted for him to stop the bike. The guy relented but said that he would do so if she told him that she loved him. So the girl did what he asked. After that, he asked her to give him a hug. Again the girl complied. Finally he told her to take the helmet off his head and put it on hers because it made his scalp itch. She did just that! The next day, splashed on the front page of the local newspaper, was a horrifying tragedy. A motorcycle had crashed into a parked truck due to brake failure. Two people were involved but only one survived. Half way down the road the boy realized that his brakes had failed but he didn t want the girl to know. Instead he tenderly asked her to tell him that she loved him. He enjoyed her hug for one last time. He gave a flimsy excuse and made her wear his helmet so that she would survive the crash which was inevitable, even though it meant that he could die. The paper made him a hero for his unconditional love, for his strong, deep love for his girlfriend. Another broken heart left standing at the grave