After a while of playing flash games, I went to find a picture of a "sad" rose on Google. Something came up, a story that I wasn't expecting. It was about a young woman whose father died of cancer. The father was a very esteemed reactor physicist, a so-called "brilliant man." The cancer was found only just before he died. As you can imagine, the disease was a huge surprise to the family... a very unwelcome one at that.
It may seem quite odd, but I just started crying then and there (as I read through the story). Something in the words reached out and touched me. Whenever I think of death, I can't help but relate it to my own life somehow. I started thinking of my father dying, of the other loved ones in my life disappearing before my eyes in a matter of months, weeks, days, hours -- or even minutes. I could come home one day, and find that my mother had been killed in a car accident, or that my father had been a casualty of an attack by someone. Although something like disease could also strike a deathly blow to my brother; he could get painfully ill in a matter of days, and I would never see him again.
Do everyone you love, and yourself some good. Tell them every day how much you love them and how much they mean to you. When you get in arguments, take some time to cool down. When you've done that, go back and apologize or try to smooth things over. Just think how horrible you would feel if one day you and the person you love most in the whole world had a dispute that was never resolved - and the next day, before you could talk to them about it, they were killed in a horrendous car crash. Or maybe they died due to a terrorist attack (like 9/11, Pearl Harbor, etc.).
Never stop living
Never stop forgiving
Never ever stop listening
Never stop pursuing your dreams
Never give up at anything, especially if it's difficult
But this, I cannot stress enough
Never stop loving
Never stop caring
~ by Rachael Abrams
