Jacob's Smile

• Keanii Diaz, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2010

Jacob was born on the 19th of November, 2009, into a world that didn’t care; into a world where to be happy, there had to be a reason, where no one knew what a true smile was and into a family who didn’t know what to expect.

I remember the first things I said to my mother when I found out about the pregnancy involving my new brother was “I hate you. How could you do this to me? You’re ruining my life!” Little did I know that my new brother would be the only one able to eventually save my life.

For the first six months of my mother’s pregnancy I hated Jacob but it wasn’t until the unborn child hadn’t moved in a few days for my family to see me break. They saw past the mask of Jacob hate and saw the love I truly possessed for this child.

At school that day I was asked “What is worse, a stolen goodbye or an unspoken hello?” I knew the answer deep inside my heart that I had locked this small, unborn child out of for so long.

When Jacob was born on that Thursday afternoon, I cried as soon as I saw him. I never thought that I would ever take anything from Religion out of the classroom but that one lesson changed my life.

“Hello my little man. I just needed to say hello ok.” I said as I cried and held this baby in my arms whose small size still amazed me.

I knew I couldn’t take back all that hate I had for him for the first few months of his life, but I promised him through the tears I cried that I would only show him love for the rest of my life.

It was as if by being born, Jacob shed a new light into our world. Maybe I was the only one to notice, but he truly does still have a way of making the world a better and happier place. His ‘goos’ and his ‘gahs’ may be pitchy and no perfect masterpiece but they have a way of making you happy. I guess by him being alive is a reason to be happy. That chance that allowed me to say ‘Hello’ is enough to be happy.

It is known world wide that a smile is a sign of happiness or love. I was the first to ever see Jacob smile. The insignificant things that we all use to help make us smile don’t work on him; he smiles because he is truly happy. He created a new happy. He showed us a real happy, a real smile.

At the age of fifteen I believed for so long that boys and friends were the only real love as family love is compulsory. After enduring so much pain from the effects of heart break from boys and the constant back stabbing from besties, I learnt the hard way that family love may be compulsory but it means that it’s always there.

I could have given up. I could have thrown everything away but that would involve never being able to see that beautiful smile again.

That’s what saved me, Jacob’s smile.