A Thousand Reasons to Smile
ENC 1101
January 28, 2013
A Thousand Reasons to Smile
When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile. Whether it is through pain or laughter, life has an interesting way of teaching people lessons of strength and growth. When life throws a difficult task in our paths, we all have the opportunity to grow and become better individuals. Through pain and sorrow I have learned to look at life with a new perspective. My life changed that dreadful day when I was faced with the shock and undeniable truth of my little brother’s death.
It was the hot month of June, 2006. The days were getting hotter and hotter and every day the news reported the lack of rain and record high temperatures. I woke up that morning with an overwhelming feeling of joy from a dream that I had of being with God. I had a conversation with him, and all I remember was him telling me how great of a person I was and how much he loved me. That feeling of joy was suddenly interrupted by a phone call from my mom. It felt like my heart stopped beating even before the first words came out of her mouth, “Your brother was in a car accident last night and is in serious condition”, she said, her voice shaky. She couldn’t hold back the tears. My world stopped and a black cloud covered my sky. I can still remember the pain that I felt that day. The fear of losing my only brother immediately took over me, and hearing my mom’s weeping voice on the other end of the phone broke my heart that much more.
The dawn broke and so did our hearts, as the news came of my brother’s passing. He was gone. Gone with the blink of an eye. I became angry at the world and especially at my little brother, who had made an unwise decision that night to go out drinking and driving. For months I went through a period of depression, denying myself of life, just as life had denied my brother of the rest of his. There is an appointment in every disappointment in our lives. This
January 28, 2013
A Thousand Reasons to Smile
When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile. Whether it is through pain or laughter, life has an interesting way of teaching people lessons of strength and growth. When life throws a difficult task in our paths, we all have the opportunity to grow and become better individuals. Through pain and sorrow I have learned to look at life with a new perspective. My life changed that dreadful day when I was faced with the shock and undeniable truth of my little brother’s death.
It was the hot month of June, 2006. The days were getting hotter and hotter and every day the news reported the lack of rain and record high temperatures. I woke up that morning with an overwhelming feeling of joy from a dream that I had of being with God. I had a conversation with him, and all I remember was him telling me how great of a person I was and how much he loved me. That feeling of joy was suddenly interrupted by a phone call from my mom. It felt like my heart stopped beating even before the first words came out of her mouth, “Your brother was in a car accident last night and is in serious condition”, she said, her voice shaky. She couldn’t hold back the tears. My world stopped and a black cloud covered my sky. I can still remember the pain that I felt that day. The fear of losing my only brother immediately took over me, and hearing my mom’s weeping voice on the other end of the phone broke my heart that much more.
The dawn broke and so did our hearts, as the news came of my brother’s passing. He was gone. Gone with the blink of an eye. I became angry at the world and especially at my little brother, who had made an unwise decision that night to go out drinking and driving. For months I went through a period of depression, denying myself of life, just as life had denied my brother of the rest of his. There is an appointment in every disappointment in our lives. This