Cherish


楊秋香

God works in mysterious ways.  Every now and then, people don』t know why something happens to them.  They just complain why they have to experience the sufferings rather than treasuring what they possess at the present day.

Several years ago, my parents got divorced.  For quite some time, I was not willing to accept the fact.  When I entered a senior high school, my sister, Lucy, was planning to go abroad.  She claimed that she wanted a whole new life and being away from Taiwan was going to give her the freedom to create a new life.  I did not understand why she had to go away to such far-off places, but I knew her very well.  In my point of view, she was just pretending that she cared about nothing in front of people. 

Once, prior to her departure, she came home at midnight seriously drunk.  At the sight of her, I was scared to death for she was beyond recognition.   Before I got hold of myself, she burst into tears.  She cried and said that she just wanted a simple life sharing dinner with her beloved family members and keeping company with her parents and her little sister.  I couldn』t bear to see her like this but under the circumstances, what I could do was shed bitter tears with her and embrace her tightly. When she woke the next day, she came to me immediately.  She asked if she had disclosed anything the night before.  I merely told her that as I helped her to bed, she fell asleep without saying anything.  She looked relieved and ate breakfast in silence.

On the day of her departure, although my heart was full of parting sorrows, I still wore a smile to bid her farewell.  I hoped her journey would bring a different vision to her.  Month after month, Lucy wrote letters to me.  She said she was very happy there.  Her active attitude contributed to a very colorful life.  Even though sometimes she missed me so much that she』d like to return to Taiwan, she really couldn』t put her work aside.  Oftentimes she suggested that I pay a visit to her.  Unfortunately, before I could do that, a traffic accident deprived my sister of her life. 

When collecting her things, I discovered her diary.  In it, she talked about how she understood that our parents had hidden their grief for the broken marriage from us so as to protect us instead of growing up under a sorrowful state, and how she would return to Taiwan after she finished her studies.  Sadly, she will never get a chance to do that now.

After reading her diary, I realized that I ought to cherish what I own at this moment.  Though I am extremely sad about losing my dearest sister, I have learned much more from this lesson.  At that very moment, I decided to change my mind, open my heart, and admit the unhappiness of my family.  God surely works in mysterious ways: Her death has given me a new life.

<Go Back>