Smile For Me

With A Smile On My Face :)

Promises. I used to tell myself all the time, "I never let myself make promises" because I never kept them. I never had a good reason to keep them to begin with. But, one person in my life changed that.
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"Son, I know you don't keep promises, but can you keep one for me? Please?" My mother said. She had been really sick for the past few days, and we didn't have any money to get the right medicine to keep her heathy. We as in me. It was only me and my mother. She was dying. No doubt about it.
"Yes momma. Anything for you," I said. I am going to keep this promise. I am!
"Please. Even in the darkest of times, smile for me," she says.
"I promise," I said.
"Thank you. I will be watching you from up above to see if you keep it. I'll be very disappointed in you if you break this promise," my mother says.
"Yes momma. I will keep it. You will not be disappointed in me," I said.
"I love you, my boy," she said. "Smile for me," those were her last words.
I cried all night lying beside her. With a smile on my face.
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Me and my friends and their parents went to my mother's funeral the next week. Everyone sat down, some crying, the rest with frowns on their faces.
I sat front row. With a smile on my face.
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The day my mother died was the saddest time of my life. I was just 6 that day. It's been 7 years. I'm 14 now. I'm not living a normal life of a normal kid. Im in a foster home. I don't go to school like a normal kid. I am not a normal kid. I smile at everything. That's not normal, is it? Well, the older kids in the foster care seem to think it's weird.

"Why are you always smiling??"
"What's the big deal? My dog just died! Why are you smiling about it??!"
"HEY! Stop doing that!!! Smiling! Like some big idiot!"
"How about you go smile like you always do. It seems to make you happy when everyone else is sad. Heh, at least one person is happy, right?"

That last person was being very sarcastic. Even if they yell at me with those horrid words. Even if I hated what they were saying.
I stand there, taking it all in. With a smile on my face.
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I grew up in that same foster home. Watching everyone get adopted. Watching new kids come in. Hearing new kids ask the same questions that everyone else has. Now, I'm in the same position as my mother. Except I have no kids. No wife. No friends. I'm very sick. I didn't have any money to get the right medicine to keep myself healthy. I was dying.
"Hey, momma. Promise me one thing. When I see you again, smile for me,"
I said my last words. With a smile on my face.