Unsaid

Begin

Begin.
The cry of a newborn as it is first introduced to a world of bright lights and strange faces. As its held by its mother for the first time and takes its first breath, her life has started.
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Begin.
She takes her first steps, stumbling over the soft tan carpet and gripping the the table as she tries to keep her balance. There is so much more to see from this height, so much to explore.
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Begin.
With her new Hello Kitty backpack and her dirty blonde ponytail she looks ready to take on the world. The first day of kindergarten and she's already grown so much.
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Begin.
She invites over her friends and they run up to her room, discussing the latest fourth grade gossip. They talk about crushes and dreams, the simpler things in life.
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Begin.
Hesitantly she asks her mother to drop her off instead of walk her in, trying to seem "cool" in front of her new middle school friends. She's gained so much independence.
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Begin.
Her mother hugs her as she sobs about her breakup. In high school four months seems like a long time. Her mother promises that there will be more boys, there will be "the one."
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Begin.
She walks up to the stage and smiles as her mother and father watch from the crowd with tears in their eyes. Their baby girl has graduated. She has become an adult.
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Begin.
After her first year at college she introduces her parents to the guy she's been dating for the past months. She tells them that it hasn't been very long but she thinks he may be "the one."
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Begin.
She wears a white gown that flows around her in waves and pink flowers in her hair, her smile never fading. Her father holds back his tears, her arm linked with his. She's found her soulmate.
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Begin.
When her father passes away suddenly in the night, for his heart had given up, she feels broken inside. Her mother comforts her as she tells her that she was waiting to tell them both she was six months pregnant. Her mother promises that he will be the child's guardian angel.
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Begin.
She gives birth to a healthy baby boy who greets the world with cries of life. She knows that he will be a wonderful son and can't wait for him to grow. He has his grandfather's eyes.
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Begin.
The call arrives, telling her she received the job of her dreams. Her mother comes over to babysit the toddler as she goes out to dinner with her husband to celebrate.
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Begin.
When her mother passes on she goes in tears to the funeral with her husband and eight year old son. She is wounded, but knows that her parents are together at last.
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Begin.
Her son is now a sophomore in college and his parents can already tell that he has a very successful future ahead of him. She gives him all of her love and care on the phone before leaving to pick up her husband. On the way to the airport the car slips on the freshly fallen snow and slips over into a ditch. Just like that, her life is ripped away from her and everything is lost.
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End.
Everyone comes to the funeral, grieving because it was not yet her time to go. She was still so young and healthy. Her son cries and hugs his father as they finally lower the casket into the ground.
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A few months later in the middle of spring the casket still lays buried in the ground. Fresh, green grass has grown over the dirt and rays of sunshine cover the graveyard. Next to her gravestone, there is something most people wouldn't notice. Many small pink flowers have sprouted, reaching toward the sun, for their life has started.
Begin.
...
I'm not sure what really inspired me to write this. I was just thinking about how precious life truly is and how I don't think we fully appreciate how amazing it is that we've grown from a newborn into so many extraordinary people.
This isn't the end.
There are really no endings in life.
You just need to choose to begin.