The Time of Our Lives

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live"- JK Rowling.  If you forget to live and just sit in your  dreams, you aren't living life to what it is meant to be. You don't get a second chance at life.  Once it's over, it's over.  You don't get to live forever.  Some people may get to live longer than others, but that is just how life works.  You don't get everything on a silver platter.  Life is short so even when things go wrong, we have to enjoy every second of it.

Life is like an hourglass, you only have a certain amount of time before all of the sand falls to the bottom.  The difference is that this hourglass is invisible to everyone on Earth.  No one can guess when you are going to die.  They can make guesses as to when you will die based on your condition at the moment and the age that most people live to be, but no one can tell exactly.  The hourglass won't tell anyone when you are going to die.  The only person that can see any of it, is you, as you lay, dying, you can feel the last few grains of sand fall to the bottom.  Everyone has a different amount of sand in their hourglass, and since no one can see how much sand is left, we have to enjoy life while we can.

Enjoying life is simple, all you have to do is live it.  You don't have to spend a ton of money to go on a bunch of vacations, but it could be something as easy as going for a walk.  As long as you are with the people you love, nothing else matters, not even the weather.  It could be pouring rain as you are outside on your walk, but as long as you are with your friends or family, it doesn't matter, it just makes the situation more fun.  Whereas if you were by yourself in the rain, you would start running home, there would be no one to laugh with.  The only thing that you can do to have a good life, is enjoy it.

Anything you do help you enjoy life more, as long as you look at the bright side.  For example, have you ever thought washing the floor could be fun?  Most people would answer no, but as for me, the answer would be yes.  How could doing a chore be enjoying life?  You just have to make the best out of it.  One time when my sister and I cleaned the floor, we took the rags, put them under our feet, and waddled around.  Meanwhile, there was music blasting in the background and since we were the only ones home, no one was there to stop us.  We had a great time sliding around our kitchen, but we also cleaned the floor.

When plans get ruined, when tragedies happen,  when things go wrong, we have to realize that we aren't going to live forever.  And instead of being upset about it, we have to get over it.  And instead of living in the past, we have to enjoy the present.  Life isn't perfect so we have to accept it as it is.  Life isn't perfect so we just have to try and enjoy it while we can.

Man in Love Age 72

"Ronny!" called my wife Melanie  from the kitchen where the smell of freshly baked chocolate cookies floated through the air.  I loved her chocolate chip cookies.  She had baked these for our two grandchildren, Jack and Meg, who were coming over to visit later in the day.  They were the son and daughter of my own daughter Kim. I haven't  seen them in over three years because they live so far away.  "Would you like a cookie?  I have to make sure they are perfect for Jack and Meg." chimed Melanie.  "Of course, darling."  I replied, trying not to show how much I truly wanted one.  "The chocolate does some good for these old bones of mine" I chuckled as I began to sink my teeth through the little cookie.  Melanie smiled, I loved her smile. 

Soon the doorbell rang and our little dog, Mandy ran as fast as he could to see who's there.  When Melanie opened the door and let in the children and their parents in, I was waiting for them to come running out to me screaming "Grandpa, Grandpa!" just like the last time they were here, but no one comes.  I hear them slowly enter the door, and wonder what they are doing.  All of a sudden I heard Kim's cry of panic, I heard her husband, Jeff, telling her to be calm, but the only thing that made me move was the cries of the children. I got up from the couch and walked over to the entrance to my old house.  There I found what I had dreaded since the day I met her, there I found Melanie, lifeless.

Meg, the older of the two children seemed to be the only mature one.  She grabbed the phone and dialed 911 while the rest of us stared at Melanie, waiting for her to move.  When the ambulance arrived Melanie was hauled into the vehicle and taken to the hospital.  We all got into the car and headed there too.  All I could think about on our way there was my life without her.  Although I could feel the tears starting to form in my eyes, I didn't dare let one slide down my cheek. 

When we finally got to the hospital, I felt like my whole life with Melanie had been played out before me, every moment, every memory, from the day I met her to this very second, everything. As we walked quickly to the waiting area, I felt one little, wet tear make it's way down my wrinkled face, into my empty hand.  I quickly wiped it away, hoping that no one had seen, but someone had seen.  Before I know it Meg's soft little arm is wrapped around me like a warm blanket in the middle of winter.  She whispered to me "Don't worry, it'll be alright."  I moved my gaze down to meet her eyes reflecting the same pain in mine, except a younger pain.  These words from my 9 year old granddaughter were the only thing that could comfort me at the moment.  The problem was nothing could prepare me for what lied ahead.  A nurse came out of Melanie's room, trying to look hopeful, but anyone could tell, there was no hope.  She walked forward and called my name, "Ronald Smith."  I made my way slowly to my tired, old feet and the nurse approached me cautiously.  I wondered what she had to say, I wondered what was wrong with Melanie, I wondered why she had chosen me from the rest.  The nurse tried to be funny and cheerful, but there was something that she couldn't hide from me, that she couldn't hide from any of us.  Finally, she realized that she was going to just have to tell us.  She took a deep breath and said the words that I remember all to clearly.

Reddest of All Deaths

 Author's Note: This is based of of Edgar Allan Poe's Masque of the Red Death short story.  It is basically a short point of view from the red death itself.
Tis I, the reddest of all deaths, the dread of all people, the furtive red  death.  Tis I who deviate throughout your lonesome rooms.  If you ever envisioned escaping my deadly grasps, then it shall be you who will be taken next. There is no written number, nor no written reason as to why, but the deed must be done.  So I, the reddest of all deaths, the furtive red death, must do the deed, must make the blood poor down your face like a bloody river.  I must kill you all forevermore.

Making Mistakes

Everyone has made a mistake at some point in their life.  Whether it was a big mistake or a little mistake, everyone has made at least one.  But even though these mistakes might have gotten us into a little bit of trouble, think of how much mistakes impact our world.  If no one ever made any mistakes, the world would get boring.  Did you ever think that mistakes could actually be helping us?  Even if it is only a little, we benefit from our mistakes.

How do our mistakes make our lives better?  Well, take a look at the millions of kids across the world who plays sports every day.  Sports are based off mistakes because not both people can win.  For instance, if you were playing soccer, either the defender or the attacker has to make a mistake, someone  has to get beat, there has to be a winner, there has to be a loser, there is no way they can both be perfect.  Sports are a way for people to enjoy themselves, to have fun, but no one every realizes that all of their happiness is coming from something as terrible as a mistake.

Mistakes can also help create jobs.  Think of how much money professional sports players bring in to our economy.  Plus, they provide news companies with more to talk about.  News companies also get jobs from mistakes.  They either write or talk about what mistakes people made.  Look at how much they talk about car accidents, robberies, and all the other mistakes that people make.  The mistakes that we make are giving people a job and teaching people what is wrong.

The thing with mistakes is that even if you so something terrible, hopefully you can learn from that mistake.  The thing with life is that you have live and learn.  That means that you have live your life freely and when you make a mistake, you have to learn and accept that it was wrong, so that you hopefully won't make the same mistake twice.

Even though they may seem awful, even though they make life harder, even though they might get us in trouble, mistakes are an important part of our lives. They make our lives the way they are an even if we don't like them, they can help us.  Mistakes are like a bowl of candy, some kinds you like , and some you don't.