I Will Never Forget

Chapter 1

Ben Scott opened the door and entered the small, cozy bedroom. Thoughts of his beautiful Olivia filled his head. He missed her incredibly and wished she could be next to him with her gentle smile. Ben sat on the bed and placed his balding head in his wrinkled hands.

A few tears seeped out of his eyes. It had been two months since her funeral and Ben couldn't think about it without tearing up. After 33 years of being married, Ben was sure he would never forget her.

Finally, Ben got up from the bed and walked to the closet to pull out some more comfortable clothes. As he leaned up to grab his sweatpants, a large box caught his eye. With the pants forgotten, Ben grabbed the box and went back to sitting on the bed.

The lid of the box was decorate with soft, pastel, pink and yellow scraps of paper. In black marker was Ben's name in the center.  Ben slowly lifted the lid and marveled at the contents. In the box, was about 25 bound books. They were her journals. Tears were sliding down his face quickly and he picked up the journal labeled Journal #1.

Ben took a deep breath as he opened the journal and started to read about and remember his sweet Olivia's life.

Saturday, May 11

Dear Journal,

Today is my birthday! Mom got this journal for me! When I woke up this morning, I felt sixteen. I can now legally drive a car, and I'm finally allowed to go on dates! I went downstairs after hours of lying in bed and smelled the lovely smell of bacon and waffles! My favorite! I padded into the kitchen and found my mom standing at the counter with my dad. My seventeen year old sister, Eleanor, was setting the table.

"Livy! Happy birthday!" Elle almost dropped the plates she was holding just to grab me in a hug. I laughed.

"Thanks, Elle!" I smiled and hugged her back.

"Happy birthday, baby girl!" my dad wrapped me in a hug once Eleanor finally let go.

"Thanks, daddy!" I replied looking over his clothing. "You going to work?" I asked, a hint of sadness in my voice. My dad smiled at me sadly.

"Yeah, sorry, sweetheart." he kissed my head. I shrugged.

"It's alright, next time." I smiled. He nodded before kissing my mom and leaving for the office.

My mom pulled me into a hug and squeezed me tightly.

"Happy birthday, Olivia." she whispered in my ear.

"Thanks, Mom." I said, pulling back to let her finish breakfast.

The three of us sat around our table and dug into the yummy breakfast. We all savored the flavors and sat in a comfortable silence. Next to my plate, lay a little stack of letters and cards probably from family and close friends.

After breakfast, we cleaned up together and blared music from our stereo, dancing around the kitchen a singing rather obnoxiously. When we finally had the kitchen clean, we all went to our respective bedrooms to get ready. I selected my outfit from my closet and slipped into my bathroom to shower.

I can't wait for our evening. We have this tradition in our family. For every birthday, we got down to the lake on the outskirts of town and jump off the dock at midnight, fully clothed! My parents started it when they were first married and my dad took my mom to the lake on her birthday and threw her into the lake before jumping in after her. It's always been our favorite tradition! This time, my dad wasn't able to make it, because of work. It was kind of sad, but you gotta do what you gotta do right?