Your best day
John SimmerlingMay 19, 20102 min read
It was a day that surprised all of us. It snuck up like a treacherous thief, waiting behind a tree in the backyard; grabbing your bicycle and disappearing with a sneer. A thief of innocence, too.
Some days in our lives can be so rare and significant that they endure; remembered with a permanence. They linger through the years - though blurred and remembered perhaps only in bits and pieces. Framing our lives. This was a day like that.
A day when character is tested.
That evening, I looked into the tearful and red eyes of my sister and knew she had one of those days. My sister, who we remember cooing and kicking and rolling on her blanket when we were teenagers. The one whom we bathed in the kitchen sink as we sat laughing with our high school friends. Little could we envision then that one day she would be there when we needed her most.
I told her that it was a day to remember; a difficult day by any measure. But it was over now - passed by as one of her life’s great challenges. But I also told her that I knew when she met God in heaven, he would say it was one of her best days ever.
It was. And we love you Meg.
John Simmerling
Writer, poet, and artist. Exploring family stories, grief, love, and the small moments that shape who we are. Drawings from my mind.
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