I believe you never realize how much you value something until it is gone forever. Everyday we take simple things for granted, but imagine how life would be if those slight things were eliminated from our lives evermore. Maybe then we would realize they are not so much simple as they are a necessity.
Growing up, I idolized Barbie and her flawless, plastic world. Honestly, what girl out there had it better than her? I remember it like it was just yesterday; I played the role of Barbie and my grandpa played Ken. I regret not being able to thank him for this, but I truly appreciate all of the playing with dolls he did for me. My play time became my reality. Barbie’s life was my life. If it weren’t for the Barbie mansion, Lamborghini, swimming pool, jacuzzi, and basically the Barbie world my grandparents bought me, my dreams would not have been lived. Of course I took it all for granted, but hey, what first grader wouldn’t?
Summer 1998, as I prepared to enter second grade, my grandpa became ill and started to live in the hospital as I recall. My Barbie world crashed like the stock market during the Great Depression. Who would play dolls with me? Who was going to baby sit me? Who would read me stories, take me fishing, and play the seven year old games I loved to play? I hated this change with a passion, but thankfully he got better and was home by Thanksgiving. That Thanksgiving I was somewhat grateful he was back at home, but not to the extent I should have been. It frustrated me that I didn’t spend as much time with him as before he entered the hospital. Slowly we progressed back to a few stories a week and dinner together about every other night. Then, in February he became sick again.
I saw him once after that night he entered the hospital. Just a brief hi, and then I never saw him again. He died in April of that year, one day after Columbine. I couldn’t understand why these terrible things were happening. As much as I tried to understand why so many people were abruptly taken off of earth, I just couldn’t find any reasoning. It was the hardest time of my life, and until the funeral, during the time my cousin was reading memories of our grandpa, it hit me that, that is all I have left… just memories.
It is funny how much the absence of little pieces of my life, greatly altered my life. No more fishing trips, no more games, no more dollies, and most of all, no more grandpa. I would give anything to go back in time and tell my grandpa how much I appreciated all the little things he did for me. With my little things in life gone, I was forced to kiss the old “Barbie” life good-bye. You never realize how much something means to you until it is gone forever… this I believe.