In english my teacher had us write an essay about something important to us, something that helped shape us, and this is what I came up with.
You know those people that are so happy that they seem to
shine with light? My whole life I’ve been surrounded by those bright lights.
My whole life I’ve tried to be one of them. Tried to be the smile to someone’s
day, the skip to someone’s step.
But I’ve quickly realized that it isn’t something that you
try to be; it’s something that you are. It’s not something that’s given to you,
or something that you decide to want. It comes from within. That light, that
shine. It comes when you figure out who you are and who you want to become.
I remember walking to my neighbor Jenny’s house everyday. I
was a six year old with two older brothers, and I longed to replace them with
an older sister. But since I couldn’t do that, Jenny became the perfect
replacement.
She always took me on the most marvelous adventures.
One day we would draw lines of chalk on the pavement and
take our bikes and turn them upside down turning the peddles pretending to make
ice cream.
The next day we would build majestic castle forts down in
her basement while watching Looney Tunes
and eating mouthful after mouthful of popcorn. We were always eating
Popcorn.
Some days we would just sit there, and I would tell her
things that I could tell no one else.
On snowy days we would hall out the shovels and make giant
snow forts, and after we were frozen to the bone we would head inside for a cup
of hot chocolate and miniature marshmallows.
I even remember the day I got my first bike and I ran over
her because I couldn’t figure out how to brake. Even though she didn’t like me
for a while, she was still my hero.
Each day was a new adventure.
I’m a freshman and she’s a senior. We haven’t changed much.
It’s hard to believe that that was just short eight years
ago, and even after all this time she’s still my hero.
The chalk has turned
to dust and the bikes have been outgrown. The stones of the castle have been
taken apart and laid to rest. Even though those things are gone, I still carry
what she taught me each and every day.
She taught me to be creative, to be
myself, to be a good listener, to be a friend, and most importantly to love my
savior Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father.
She was the one who taught me how to shine. She taught me
by the way she lived her life each and every day. Jenny, she’s got that light,
that shine. She knows who she is, who she wants to be, and who she wants to
become.
That's why I believe Jenny shines with light.
Just incase you're wondering, yes, this is my hero, and doesn't she shine :) |