Life Afterward (Inspired by The Book Thief)

Acceptance

It wasn't a year after their marriage that Liesel learned she was pregnant. She and Thomas were overjoyed by the news the doctor gave them. They went through this cycle three times overall. After their third, Liesel jokingly made a deal with Thomas that three was enough. Their oldest and middle were girls, and their youngest was a boy.

Their new family was happy. Liesel and Thomas made sure to supply their children with only the best, something Liesel had grown up thinking she would never be able to do. She and her husband showered their children with love and affection, taking them on weekend trips and showing them the wonders of the world.

Slowly, Liesel stepped away from her sorrow and eased herself into learning to smile and be happy for longer durations of time. Soon, she was no longer pretending to be happy in front of her children. She always loved them, but sometimes smiling was just difficult for her. She still missed her Papa, her Mama, and Rudy, and in the evening after they'd put the children to bed, Liesel would tell Thomas bits and pieces of her life story until they both fell asleep with Thomas cradling her in his arms.

She vowed to never leave her children or husband, and she unconditionally loved them with every fiber of her being. I watched the family as the children grew up and their parents grow old. I watched as Liesel's oldest married a family friend and moved an hour's drive away. I watched as her middle child married and traveled with her husband for several years before settling down by the sea about half an hour's drive away. Her youngest married and stayed in the home, taking care of his aging mother and father.

Liesel picked her writing habit back up in her old age. She'd sit in her library and write and read for entire days, only stopping when her son would bring her meals. Thomas would join her every day, sitting with an open book in his hands across from her. He did more staring at her than reading.

My cousin came to me the day Liesel grew sick. He told me she wouldn't live to get better, that he'd have to take her. I argued with him, screaming at him like a human child in the middle of her and Thomas's bedroom where she slept. Thomas was sitting by her bedside, and her children and their own children were in the room with solemn looks on their faces. They all knew what I didn't want to face. I had seen little Liesel grow up and get past the trauma of her childhood. I had seen her marry and find happiness despite the tragedy she had faced in the past.

"You know she must come with me, Life. You know they all have to come with me at some point."

"It's not fair. She shouldn't leave from sickness."

"She's not leaving from sickness. She's leaving from old age. She's been through so much, and it's time for her to go. It's time for you to hand her to me and let me take her to the afterlife. She's been through so much already."

"What about Thomas? What about her children and grandchildren?"

"They will learn to live without her. Thomas only has a few more years at most, and all children eventually lose their parents. They're lucky to lose them as married adults rather than as small children like Liesel did."

"Promise you'll take care of her, Death. Promise you'll be soft with her."

"I will."