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Title: Happiness, Change and Relief
Date: September 26, 2013
By: Paedra Tabor
City: philadelphia
State: New York
Age: 14
Grade: 9
Sadness fills her heart. Depression is what blankets her life, shielding her from reality. It has been almost three months since the death of her beloved husband but although he is gone, she can still feel him beside her. Her house is no longer filled with the cheerful laughs or heart warming smiles that always lit up the room. She finds herself thinking about him every day, week, second, min; there is nothing else that clouds her mind except for him and his wonderful characteristics that describe his great personality. One day as she sat in his rocking chair, a family heirloom from his mother, a beautiful butterfly speckled with purple spots lands on the flower pot that sits upon the window sill. She slowly takes her eyes off the dusty picture hanging across the room of their wedding picture and looks at the magnificent creature. After what seemed like forever, she feels warmth fill her again and a smile, which had been tucked away for a long time, appears on her face. She carefully takes the flower pot in her hands and she takes it outside. To her surprise she finds the garden lively with purple flowers everywhere and green grass growing in between every rock and tree. The woman’s eyes fill with tears as she bent down to pick of a note tied on a small rock. She cried tears of love and joy as she read it aloud, “My dear Maybell, I know your heart is broken and you are longing for my touch but you must know that every day I think about you and your beautiful smile. I knew my time was coming longer before you knew, so I prepared this little haven of love and beauty for you so that when ever you want to see me, all you have to do is walk right outside our back door. The flowers are my eyes and smile, the rocks and trees are my strong arms and hands that hold everything together, just for you. I love you, from yours truly, Harold” At that moment the sadness that had covered her life completely, faded away. The next day after finding the magnificent garden, Maybell started to draw, read and write again. She drew the flowers as distinctive as she could, she wrote poems of wisdom and hope about the sunshine that lit up all the flowers and read about the beauty in life and all of the happiness that is truly out there waiting for her to make a change.