Blissful Memories by Heidi

Blissful Memories by Heidi - February 2014 Scholarship Essay

Throughout my life I have gone through many hardships, like most people, but there is one quote that runs through my head that helps me reach the light at the end of the tunnel. "Don't cry that it's over, smile and laugh because it happened". In my stage of life right now sports, family, school, religion, and more are constantly running to stress me out. Without the help of this quote, I don’t think that I would be as successful as I am right now.

About eight years ago, my grandpa was diagnosed with lung cancer; he was originally told that he only had six months to live. With his fight and will to live, he ended up surviving four years longer than the doctors expected. When the cancer maliciously took his fragile life, I was only eight years old. I can remember not fully understanding that death meant that I would never see, hear, or hug my grandpa ever again. Eventually it started to sink in and I started going into a depression. My mom realized what I was going through told me some very helpful advice that my grandpa had given her, "Don't cry that it's over, smile and laugh because it happened". I started to repeat it to myself constantly. Once I figured out the meaning inside of the phrase, I started to smile and look back upon my past as a blessing and happy memories. Although the initial impact of a situation still makes me sad, eventually I will see the happiness and joy that came from the memories of it.

In addition, this past week my hockey team lost a live-or-die section match in a quadruple overtime. Like most seniors on my team, I was crying that I would never put on my jersey and wear it on the ice with pride anymore. Once I got over the initial shock that the season was over, I remembered this quote, "Don't cry that it's over, smile and laugh because it happened". I started looking back at all of the memories that I had created with some of my closest friend and I realized that no one could ever take those memories away from me. Although the thought of hockey being over still hurts, I know that the pain will fade, but the memories will last a lifetime.

Before I was introduced to this quote, I was in a very dark and terrible place. When my mom first said this quote to me, I started to apply it to every aspect of my life. Now, whenever I am around people who are going through tough times I share this quote with them with the hope that they will start to think upon it and feel better like I did. I feel like before this quote, I didn’t look into the past, I just focused on the present. Like me, people need to realize that if it weren't for the past the present would be bland. Therefore, next time you or someone you know is going through a rough time with losing something or someone remember, "Don’t cry that it's over, smile and laugh because it happened".