My Collection

2

A Friend Like Her

        "Makayla was a bright child. She was always trying to help others and she always had this gianormous smile on. Everything she did was for other peopls. I can still remember the day when she came up to me in grade 4 and helped me up. I had been pushed off the swing by Brandon and she went right up to him without any fear on her face and stood up for me. Her tiny hands were clenched at her sides and her ponytail bobbed up and down with every word. I smiled, stood up and joined her in scolding Brandon. We were young then, only 9 years old. The look on his face was priceless. Here we were, not even half his height and we were scolding this kid who was in grade 7. After that episode, Makayla and I were best friends for life. Sometime in the sixth grade, I had my first heartbreak. A boy named Tyler had asked me out and I gladly accepted. I'd had a major crush on him and the first person I told was Makayla. Her face lit up as she listened to me. She was so excited for me. Then, a few days later, Tyler stood me up and I saw him walking past the movie entrance with another girl, while I was standing there. I went home crying and didn't go to school the next day. Makayla noticed instantly and was over at my house as soon as she could get out of school. She had brought over chocolate and popcorn and we sat watching movies for the rest of the day. She didn't even need to ask what had happened. She knew. I knew that I had found a lasting friend, one who would always be there for me. I could only hope that I could be there for her. When we graduated elementary school together, we spent everyday together. We would go down to her family's cabin and swim in the lake with her older brother and cousins. I never brought along my siblings. They didn't want to come despite endless invitations from everyone. After the summer ended, we both were enrolled into the same highschool and were in all the same classes. We were ecstatic! In grade 9, we went to a province wide event called Me to We. There was a concert with Hedley and we loved it. We got the special seats because we won a contest to see who could come up with the best choreography for the theme song of WeDay. After WeDay, we did everything we could to help the children of developing countries. All through highschool, we stayed best friends. We did have fights, but they were always made up soon after. Finally, it came to our graduating year. We walked up on stage one after the other. She had this giant beam on her face as she looked at our principal. He smiled at both of us and handed us our certificates. We were both the lonely prom girls that night. None of us had looked for a boyfriend and we were perfectly happy with that. Soon after we graduated, Makayla found a boyfriend. He was so sweet to her and she deserved him 100%. They married after dating for a year and while She went on her honeymoon, I also found a boyfriend. Funny enough he was the long distant friend of Alex, Makayla's husband. John soon proposed to me and I gladly accepted. When Makayla was 24, she was diagnosed the first time with lung cancer. She came to me first thing and told me. The tears streaming down her face broke my heart. In all the years that I had known her, she had never ever cried. I knew that this was terrifying for her. Her and her husband made regular trips to the hospital to take chemo therapy. She lost all her hair and was still beautiful. After a year of treatment, she won the battle against cancer. We all celebrated and cried for joy. She was safe. However, like I said before, that was the first battle. When she was 33, she relapsed back into cancer. This time, the tumor had spread to her stomach. The doctors said it was a very slim chance that she would get out safely. They did operation after operation to try and cure her. Their attempts were not successful and in April the next year, she passed away after fighting for over a year. She was so strong and never once complained about her illness or situation. She was a true friend and I was very glad to have a friend like her." I stopped talking with tears in my eyes. I looked down at the small black coffin, stepped forward and placed the speech, a photo of us from grade 4, and her favourite flowers, sunflowers, onto the table beside the coffin. I stepped back and John wrapped his arms around me as I started shaking. "It's going to be ok Marlene." He whispered to me. I fought back the stinging tears. I would not cry. I would stay strong for the friend who was always there for me.