This week Naomi was given an assignment in her Literature Class. The assignment was to write a paper based on a memory she had with a friend. When she was finished writing her paper she shared it with me. Tears of joy flowed as I read about this sweet memory she has with her brother. I asked her if she would mind sharing it on our blog since we all have things in our life that are considered thorns but will one day be made beautiful. She agreed to share this with you to encourage you.
A Time Capsule
There I was, finally able to go to my brother’s room and spend the night with him. Since he had been diagnosed with cancer in March he had been staying up at Children’s Hospital in Denver. The hospital did not allow me to visit him because I was underage. I had to be 13 years old to visit him in his room. Months went by before I could see him.. Finally, in December I turned 13 and was able to see Jacob again. Mom and I went up to his floor, but before we could go into his room, we had to wash our hands for two minutes. Then, and only then , were we allowed to enter the seventh floor. We went into his room and there he was, on the hospital bed playing video games. I immediately went up to him and hugged him. We were both exuberant to see each other again. I sat down on a chair while he went back to his bed and paused the game. He and I instantly started catching up with each other. We were both in a daze that we are hanging out with each other again, just like old times. Mom, seeing this unraveling, Jacob and I together, best friends from the orphanage, and then becoming a brother, and a sister with the same last name. She left the room to go get something and Jacob and I started playing Minecraft in survival mode. We were surviving in Minecraft, then suddenly, out of nowhere, we burst out laughing. I do not remember what was funny. Perhaps it was because I was still trying to figure out the controls or Jacob glitching in the game while making funny noises. It was so fun being with him again. We eventually got a hold of ourselves and started a new game. His favorite. We played the game Portals. It is a robot puzzle game. All the robots have portal guns. There were two characters in the game, I was P-Body, a robot that was shaped like an egg. Jacob was Atlas, a robot that was shaped like a circle. In the game, we had to work together to open up doors by using our portal guns. We both became experts at the game. We noticed the robots walking funny. We started laughing uncontrollably because it was hilarious watching them. We would move our robots in circles again and again because of how funny the robots looked. It was almost time for bedtime and quiet but he and I could not stop laughing out loud. Mom came into the room and saw us dying of laughter from simply watching the robots walk. We then stopped for a few seconds, looked at each other, then looked at the screen, and then we laughed again; but this time more tears of joy, and more abb pains from all the laughter. Mom had a lost face at first and then an understanding face. She knew how valuable that time was with him. And I know how priceless the laughter was with him and how influential the short time I had with him on this earth was.
Oh, the sweet memories we have with Jacob. They are special gifts given to us by the One who loves us and has turned our thorns into something so very beautiful. Our sorrow has been replaced by joy.
