Love You For A Thousand Years

*Not related to prompt. This story isn't completely true but some parts are based off of some things that have happened in my life.*

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I lost my Great Grandma Isabelle yesterday. I loved her so much.

One minute, I was giggling with my little sister as we looked at pictures on my mom's computer, and the next, I was sitting in the bathroom, crying my heart out.

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Mom sat down in the spinning office chair and opened up the computer. As she pulled up some files, I looked out the window. The bright orange and red leaves were slowly falling from the trees, dancing with the wind. I imagined I was twirling and swirling with them. Fall is my favorite season.

"Adri, look!" Mackenzie pointed at a picture of me posing awkwardly in front of a waterfall. I giggled. There were some pictures of baby me sleeping, playing, and pictures from past Christmases... finally, we got to some pictures of a vacation to Florida. There were some pictures of me and my cousins with characters, and... we got to a picture of Grandma Iza. I was inspecting the background of the picture (it was GG Iza’s house).

“I can’t wait until we get to go to Florida and see Grandma Iza again!” I said. Mom looked a little bit sad. 

“Adriana, um, I- that won’t be possible.” Mom said. I tilted my head in confusion. 

“What? Why? How?” I asked nervously.

“Grandma Isabelle died.” Mom whispered. My eyes were brimmed with tears as I ran into the bathroom to hide. Tears poured out of my eyes like they were bottled in for years. My life was finally perfect, until now. Why? Why did GG Iza have to die? I asked myself. I questioned myself over and over again until I remembered that I never wrote to GG. 

“I never wrote her any letters.” I said out loud. “I never wrote her any letters!” I sobbed into my hands until my mom came into the bathroom. 

“Shhh… It’s okay, shhh…” Mom patted my back until I was quiet. “Why don’t you write GG a letter?”

“But- but she’s dead…” I mumbled.

“It’s okay. If she’s watching above you, then she’ll be able to read it.” Mom said. 

Grandma Iza always told me to write her letters. She didn’t have an email account, or a Facebook account, because she was turning 95 in a month. She felt like social media should go. I was never able to write to GG because we never had stamps or I forgot. I slowly walked into my room and opened an empty notebook.

Dear Grandma Iza, September 17th

I love you. You were, and still are, my favorite grandparent. What’s Heaven like? Is it white and gold? Have you found any of your dead relatives, like Great-Uncle Larry? Have you met any angels? Is there yummy food there? Do you watch over me? Did you meet God yet? I’m sorry for asking too many questions, but, you know. Question things ALWAYS.

School is okay, I guess. I get bored pretty often. My homeroom teacher lets us bring in fidget toys sometimes, so I bring Play-Doh (you remember, it always decreased my stress.) and the pop-it fidget thing that we saw at Five Below once. My grades are at an average of 85% to 100%. So I get pretty good grades, because A’s and B’s are good. My ELA teacher loves the stories I write, she thinks they’re super good and original. Did you know that I have a blog? My ELA teacher reads it, even! And half of my friends do. My math grades have gone up since I started the Pomodoro technique like you told me to. Well, all of my grades did, but math the most.

Oh, it’s dinnertime. We’re having spaghetti and meatballs! Yum! 

Love, Adriana

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I ate my spaghetti and meatballs in silence. Dad wasn’t home from work yet. Once I was finished with my spaghetti, I was walking back into my room when I heard the door open. I turned around. 

“Daddy!” Mackenzie shouted. She ran up to him and hugged him. I looked at him and my eyes were filled with tears once again. 

“I miss GG.” I cried.

“Shhh, Adri, I miss her too. It’s okay. Look, you have mail.” My dad said. He handed me two envelopes- one pink envelope with the return address not listed, and one white, business-looking envelope with my name on it. Both were from Grandma Iza. The pink one had an early birthday card in it.

Adriana, my time is almost up. I want you to know that I love you. Happy birthday, my goofy girl. Hope #12 is the best year ever! Love, Grandma Isabelle. It said. I opened the business envelope and I saw a long string of paper clips. I gasped and grinned. Grandma Iza and I always string paper clips together for pretty decoration. Like LED lights with clips on them, but without the actual lights. There was a letter inside the white envelope. 

Dear Adriana,

I know you love me, I love you too. Heaven is beautiful! It’s not just white and gold, it’s every color! Except red, black, and brown, because God said that those colors aren’t very happy-looking. Yes, I have met God! He’s very nice. Yes, I’ve met some relatives, yes, there’s delicious food- you’d love it! And yes, I watch over you. I am an angel. Everyone is an angel, here in Heaven. 

Okay, it’s good that school is going… good. You know, an 85% is really good. So, I’m proud of you for having an average of 85% to 100%. And that your teachers love you? Terrific.

There’s delicious spaghetti here, too! It reminds me of you. I miss you a lot too, and don’t cry, okay, Adri? Don’t cry for me.

I will love you for a thousand years, and a thousand more.

Love always, 

Grandma Isabelle Rose Lorial

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Word count is the worst- :P