Hard Goodbye

• Irena Purnell, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2021

Her grey hair, fading into white, framed her face as she smiled. Joy filling the room, everything, and everyone catching the contagious laughter. When my grandma was near you, you could feel the happiness radiating from her. My grandma, the shortest of the family, was the light in the dark. The moon in the night. The sun in the sky. Suddenly, something happened. It was like wind flipping through the pages of a book, without having time to read the words. She faded. Joy faded with her. Our family grew grey. Sad. Broken. Alone. I must have cried a thousand tears, but crying never helps.

We all have plenty of happy memories of the people who have impacted our lives. But sometimes the happy memories have to be mixed with sad ones to balance the mind. When that special person leaves, it feels like your heart stops with them.
Life is like a clock. It has time before it stops and breaks. It may get smashed, or damaged, and old along the way, but when it stops, when all is lost… You have to find the strength to keep ticking.

Shining bright sun rays were glaring down at us. On the deck, Grandma and I sat, sipping lemonade and munching on fruit cake. Sitting in silence, we watched the butterflies effortlessly float through the air, watched the bees move around the garden, and shooed away pesky flies. Grandma said a lot of wise things. She must have one thing every day. If she didn’t, call me crazy. I learned some important life lessons. Today, she said slowly, “If a goodbye is hard, it means you love the person you have to leave very much. Be thankful for a hard goodbyes” Horrified that she was thinking of leaving, I hugged her tight. Those words stayed with me for the entire day, and possibly for the rest of my life. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Today, when I cry because I have lost someone that I love, I think about those words. I feel like everyone I love (even the ones I have lost) are there with me, to guide me though life, and to give me the strength to keep ticking.

People will come and go, but a selected few will take a special place in our hearts and lives. There the people that shape us;the people that make us laugh. Throughout our lives, we will learn that the ones we love will never leave. You have to keep ticking to find the love that overwhelms your heart, that stays with you forever.