One step at a time

40

Bradly Newman

It was a nice morning as I sat outside I smiled as the sun came out from behind the trees. "You always loved watching the sunrise" Lissa smiled from the doorway. She looks better. She's making progress. She's living her best life. Lissa wasn't in recovery yet but she was slowly getting there one step at a time. She was so close to remission I could reach out and grab it. "Graduation is practically around the corner Lee" She smiled at me. This was not her ordinary smile this time her smile reached her eyes. This time you could actually tell she was happy, This time she meant it. "I know you want me to go to a college halfway across the world" I started but she stopped me. "At first yes that is what I wanted until I realized something" She looked up at me and could see that I was clearly confused. "Your life is here Lee everything you wanted is here I was too blind to it because I was projecting my dreams onto you and that's something I'm ashamed about I didn't want you to go off and live your life I wanted you to go off and live mine the one that I wanted, The one that I dreamed about when I was a little girl but you are not me you are you and I'm sorry for that" She wanted me to go off and get the life that she couldn't, Get the life that was ripped away from her.

"Don't go Lee stay and be happy, Stay and have the life you always wanted, Ever since we were little you wanted this small-town life, You wanted your roots here, You never wanted to leave you've wanted that since you were a little boy" Lissa knew this I didn't have to tell her she knew before I even did. "What did you want? What were your dreams?" I was genuine I really wanted to know, No one ever knew her dreams she never spoke of them she always made sure others were happy before herself even though everyone could see that she was clearly miserable. "I wanted to go to NYU and become a surgeon not just any surgeon I wanted to heal little kids I wanted to do something a lot of people are scared to do I wanted to come up with new and easier ways to heal people when I first got diagnosed I wanted to become a cancer doctor I wanted to do something that couldn't be done reverse time but most of all I wanted to be someone everyone came to I wanted to be someone people turn to but most of all I wanted to be remarkable" She smiled at me but she was clueless to what she really was.

"Lissa people already come to you, People in this town look up to you, You are already what you wanted to be, Your already remarkable and you haven't even tried do you know how much people in this town celebrated in your honor when we found out your treatment was working? The whole town had a celebration down by the pier, Do you know how many people you have changed just by being yourself? Do you know how many lives you've saved just living your own?" She shook her head and quietly said. "You're just saying those things I haven't done anything" I ran up to my room and grabbed the letters everyone's been giving me when I came back everyone was outside.

"Dear Melissa

My name is Daniel I am a 13-year-old boy, You don't know me but one day when you were walking by you gave me 10 dollars you don't realize how much that 10 dollars saved my life, Thanks to you my family was able to keep our house all we needed was 10 dollars I didn't ask you just gave it you saved my life, You saved my family's life with your generosity" She still didn't believe me. okay, next letter.

"Dear Melissa

My name is John before you helped me in the library that day I was ready to take my own life, I wanted out and that night I was going to be out I had everything planned. You spent 5 minutes with me and you changed my life, You helped me see that my life was worth fighting for and one day I will pay you back one day you will know how much this truly meant to me" Lissa shook her head. Maybe I needed to read her a letter from someone she knew.

"Dear Melissa

I don't know if you will ever read this letter or if it will ever be given to you, I am so grateful for you and to you, You changed my life without even trying, You changed my life for just being there. When you told the class what you had been through, What you are going through it made me realize that what I have been doing my whole life is not good for me, Not good for a lot of people. I have been jealous of you for a long time ever since we were 5, You were pure you had no demons well you made it seem like you had no demons. Nobody and I mean nobody would have thought you had cancer the signs were not there but then again nobody was looking for them nobody saw how much you were hurting and I know most of it is my fault. I will never be able to tell or show you how sorry I am because nothing in the world could amount to any of it. I had an addiction, I was never shown love I was only giving what I was got, But you made me realize that there are people out there who need saving because of you I have decided that I'm going to become a cancer doctor, I'm going to save people just like you, You have shown me that there are people out there who need help, There are people out there who need people like me. One day I hope to save you just like you saved me

From Sierra" I looked at Lissa and she had tears in her eyes. "You can't be serious is this a joke Lee?" She didn't believe me. There was a knock at the front door. "I'll get it" dad said as he stood up tears in his eyes. We waited a few minutes and Sierra walked through the door. She smiled at all of us. We actually got along now that she was nicer. She stood up for the people who got picked on. She started hanging out with the people who got picked on. She changed overnight she even dressed in proper clothing. She's no longer friends with Melody. "I wanted to come and tell Melissa that I got into NYU medical school" Sierra smiled at all of us. "So you actually wrote that letter and Lee is not playing a joke on me?" I told Sierra I was going to give Melissa the letter because I had read it myself, I believed that she had changed I had seen it myself. "Yes I wrote it and I personally wanted to come and thank you, You have no idea the number of people who want to thank you, This whole town wants to thank you they also want to dedicate the new school gym to you" Sierra smiled again.

"Why would they want to do something silly like that I haven't even done anything" Lissa laughed. "You changed a small town with small minds into a town that believed in itself, You helped a lot of people you don't even know, You helped people believe that they could do anything you did and you had cancer people are following their dreams because of you, I'm not the only student who wants to become a doctor to give back to you, You don't even realize the amount of change you have done when you came back? When you left you took the town with you there were days when no one was out this town was a ghost you always made sure to go into town every day and volunteer even when you were sick the little things you did made a big change and you weren't even trying" Sierra hugged her. "I'm saying goodbye now because I go to college on Monday I won't even be there for graduation" She smiled at everyone then left.

"Babe do you finally realize how many people you have changed?" Lissa laughed and walked away like it was no big deal.