As I jumped off the plane, I looked up and saw the stars in the sky welcoming me back to Korea. As the moon sank lower and the sun began to rise, I also started to rise up. I raced down the highway to my grandmother’s sister’s nursing home and dashed to her room. It has been years since the last time I met her.

“How were you doing? I missed you so much! I have so much to tell you about school, friends and other activities!” I exclaimed as I rushed through the open door leading to my grandmother’s sister’s room. Even though we were relatives, we didn’t know each other that well. This was maybe the first time I ever met her when I was at the age of actually understanding who I see. It had been nearly 7-8 years since the last time I visited Korea. I was so thrilled I started talking on and on and on about life. She was very eager to listen to my embarrassing stories. I remember telling her about the time when I started crying when my mom went to throw away the trash and my sister who was at that time 2 or 3 just looked up at me and comforted me. I told her many embarrassing stories and I will never forget the expression this brought to her face. I knew how much this meant to her; for she was always a widow for her husband passed away a few years after their child’s birth. Her son also left the world shortly after his father’s death. They both died of cancer. For this reason she was always a widow but seeing the children of her niece made her very excited.

“Let’s take a walk in the garden! I want to look at the flowers outside and take pictures with you!” I exclaimed.

We all took a walk along the garden and I remember just as if it was yesterday,the smile she had glued on her face and the talks we had seemed to have brought her back a family. I just remember faintly like an old music playing in my head. I remember the sound of her laughs and the sight of her bright smiles which had been locked in and had not found the way to come out until now.I have to say that this walk was a memorable one. Her smiles always seemed to make me smile and laugh.

“Do you want to take a picture together?” She asked me and I delightfully answered, ”Yes!”
Soon before we knew it we had to leave. We didn’t know each other that well, but the one hour we spent together will always stay within me. When we were leaving I remember her last few words she said to us.

“This may be the last time I see you guys. If I do leave the world and if I don’t get a chance to meet you once again, I will always keep you in my heart and always remember I love you.” This was what she had managed to say between the ocean of tears rushing down her face.
“Bye,see you next time and I promise to come and visit you when I come back!” I hugged her. Since I was young, I cried because my mom did, but what I had not really realized was that, this really was the last time I would see her. Maybe the first and the last.

A few years went by and I had just started sixth grade. Adjusting to this new environment was confusing, a new school, friends, teachers, a life.The news struck me a few weeks into school. My grandmother’s sister had died..I had been doing homework when my mom started crying and when I went into her room she told me, “My aunt died.” My aunt had been sleeping, but hadn’t woken up. They checked her pulse and noticed that her pulse had stopped. They tried waking her up, but her sorrowful, yet happy life had ended. I had remembered the last words she had said to me and felt pain in my heart. I cried all night and the next day at school, I couldn’t concentrate. This news was the first death in my family that I had ever experienced. I felt as if the world was over. I really couldn’t take it and I was very sensitive that day. “Sunny, are you okay? Why are you so depressed?”

My friends questioned me for I was always the hyper and loud one. Weakly and without any effort I said, “My grandmother’s sister passed away yesterday and it is the first death in my family.” Somehow I survived 1st and 2nd period and as soon as the brunch bell rang, I cried.
“Sunny, it’s okay. People die but their love is always going to be kept inside your heart. Don’t forget that and I know how you feel. If you need to cry then cry but never give up.” My friends encouraged me and talked to me when I was in difficult times and I was thankful for that.This feeling,was something I couldn’t digest. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know if this was all true. I was so sorry for her. I couldn’t forgive myself of how I had acted, I had thought this was never really going to happen but clearly I was wrong and I felt as if her death was all for me to blame. I realized this was the feeling you have when you lose a loved one. Since it was my first time,I was not ready for this surprising news. However, even if this was the first death in my life I know it won’t be my last. It honestly took me about 2 weeks to finally recover from the shock.

Even today, I sometimes remember the last words she had said to me and the affection she had also shown me and when I do remember them, I always work harder because life isn’t all about good things. There are losses but we still have to deal with it and stand strong. A person’s death is not something that should make us sad our whole lives, it should be something that we get strengthened by and motivated by.The lesson to be learned was that pain doesn’t make someone weak but that it only makes them stronger. This lesson makes me grow stronger and deal with life. I also learned to live life to its fullest. Some people want to give up on life but honestly I know for sure you will regret it when you are older. I know that this is a lesson for me to learn; that people come and leave but love always stays within a person.