so hard to say good-bye
名称：so hard to say good-bye
内容简介：
Dear Arizona,
At the beginning of the year, my class got a goldfish named Shine, and we made him our class mascot. The terrible thing is that Shine died two weeks ago. We’re all sad. Do you have any suggestions for what we could do to feel better?
—Missing Shine in Montana
Dear Missing,
I am so sorry to hear about your goldfish. Of course you’re sad. Your letter makes me think of the time I had to say good-bye to an old friend.
“Hey, Ollie-by-golly!” I called on my way past my best friend’s house. “Grab your skateboard and come do some tricks with me at the park.”
“Nah,” he called back. “I’m gonna pass this time.”
I skated over to him and hopped off my board. “Usually you’re the one begging me to go learn new tricks and stuff! What’s going on?”
“It’s Grandfather Oak,” said Ollie. “I found out they’re chopping him down, and now the idea of being in the park completely depresses me.”
“W-w-what?” I stuttered. “Please tell me you did not just say what I think you said!”
“Yeah, I did.”
I shook my head. “There’s no way that can be true. Who’d want to chop down a tree as big and beautiful and old as Grandfather Oak? Maybe it’s just a rumor.”
“It’s not a rumor,” said Ollie. “My grandmother knows a tree trimmer the city hired to do the chopping. Grandfather Oak has some kind of disease. The tree doctors have tried everything, but nothing’s worked.”
Ollie and I were quiet for a long time. The only sound was wheels rolling on the sidewalk as we kicked my skateboard back and forth. I finally had an idea.
“We need some kind of good-bye party,” I said.
“A thank-you ceremony,” Ollie added.
“Where we give a special gift to the park,” I said. “To help people remember Grandfather Oak.”
“We could have a car wash or bake sale to raise money for the thank-you gift,” Ollie said.
“Yes!” I was starting to feel a little better.
That afternoon, instead of skateboarding in the park, we ended up baking cookies in Ollie’s kitchen (then freezing them so that they’d stay fresh). With more baking over the next few days— and some help from neighbors and friends—we had lots of great stuff to sell by Saturday. We held the bake sale outside my parents’ grocery store, and it was such a success that, along with a few donations, we raised enough money for a very cool thank-you gift.
It took forever for the whole thing to come together. I’m not talking about days or even weeks. I’m talking months! But it was so worth the wait. Abuela’s treetrimmer friend was able to save a bunch of wood from Grandfather Oak, and we used the bake-sale money and donations to pay someone to make that wood into a beautiful park bench!
You wouldn’t believe how many people showed up for our thankyou ceremony. We all took turns sitting on the bench and sharing our favorite memories of our favorite tree. “I loved reading under Grandfather Oak,” said Mr. O’Leary.
“I loved picnicking under Grandfather Oak,” said Mrs. Stravinsky.
“I loved every single thing about Grandfather Oak!” said my little brother, Tex.
At the end, Ollie and I read a poem we wrote:
For making it awesome
to skateboard and race
by giving us shade
on those hot summer days,
for sheltering birds
who sang as we played,
for colors that blazed
as your autumn leaves changed,
for all of these things
and the love that you gave:
“Thank you, old friend”
is all we can say.
So, dear Missing, I hope you know it’s completely normal to be sad beyond belief when you lose something or especially someone you care about. For me, stopping to remember the good times and saying “thanks for making our days a little happier” helped my heart feel better. As far as having a good-bye ceremony, you don’t need to go as all-out as Ollie and I did. Maybe each person could think of a couple of nice things about your goldfish and write them down in one big thank-you card. Or maybe you could take turns saying the memories out loud.
And you might get tired of hearing this, but you really will feel better over time—I promise!
Ciao for now,
Arizona
