Aubreanna G., Stivers School for the Arts
Life Without the Dark
“I like the night. Without the dark, we’d never see the stars.” said by Bella Swan. From the twilight movie and book series that has been with me ever since 6th grade. The quote reminds me of life. It reminds me of experiences, and how we feel. For instance, a year ago, my great grandpa died. I was devastated. He lived a long, adventurous life. He was my inspiration, he inspired me to live my life the way I want to. A few years ago, we were on vacation, and we were playing cards. I don’t remember what we were playing. I was losing a lot, but he told me to never give up, and to not lose that spark that makes you who you are.
He lived for about 90 years, and he was always doing something. Whether it was taking care of the family, farming, feeding the animals, cooking, volunteering, or gardening. You would smell mud, dirt, and old man clothes. In his house, he would have papers and papers stacked onto each other. There were photographs everywhere, photos of his family. But the thing I noticed most with him was that he was happy, no matter what. He was friendly, smart, funny, and kind. That's what I want to be like. When he died, I noticed a shift on my dad’s side of the family, they pretended to be happy on the surface but they under the armor was a void. How could anyone live happily after he was gone? I think it affected my grandma the most, she got into a loophole of depression that I don’t even know that she is out of.
So, I came up with an idea. I would step in and try to bring in a similar happiness, a similar light. I knew I had to start being happy, more joyful. I started to become more focused on school, and I started making new friends. I noticed all the small things in life that make it precious. Things like the smell of rain, or baked cookies that just got out of the oven, most importantly, I allowed myself to do what I wanted. He would’ve wanted us to live our life to the fullest possible. The results were a hit or miss, again I didn’t want to fix them, but I also didn’t want them to forget that spark that makes them who they were.
I learned that life needs a balance between positive and negative. Like Bella, she experiences changes in her family, not exactly from death but just changes. For example, when she had almost died when she was attacked, her life flashed before her eyes. But she didn’t give up. I think with change, death, life, we shine brighter when we learn from it. I love the night, because it has so many stars that appear in the darkest sky. It’s so beautiful, and admirable.
