Lee-Amber Laderoute is a student of mine. She is 13 years old and lives with her family on a farm right outside of town. Lee-Amber has a great love for art and she expresses this through her music, writing and photography. Last year, she came to me for piano lessons, never having any instruction before. I was amazed how quickly she understood music. I was further amazed by how much she composed and
what she composed.
Last year, she let me read one of her stories; it was interesting and well written for her age/maturity. This year before Christmas, she asked me if I would read some of her writing. Of course, Christmas and New Years celebrations got in the way so I didn't get to read any of it until this week. However, when I finally got a chance to read, I have seen that not only has her writing improved over the past year, this young lady knows how to weave the words into something beautiful. I look forward to reading her work in a few years because Lee-Amber will always see the world and herself differently than others do.
With her permission, I am sharing some of her thoughts with you.
Dandelions
In their hated yellow form they are a weed. But, in their white fluffy body they are a beauty. So kick, blow, and rip if you please, for, next year, when winter dies, they shall be reborn once again, and the cycle shall re-do itself.
Song of Sadness
In a voice as delicate as sugar glass, she sang a song of sadness, and a million memories rushed up to me, the horror of humanity crushing me in all of its devastating weight. Silently it rushes up, in a form of a violin-like quivers, tying you in with iron shackles which no amount of force will shatter, enticing you like the beauty and scent of a poisonous weed in a garden, dark as the shadows of a moonless midnight, twisting you, until what you once knew and loved is uncertain and irrelevant, and there is fear where once there was only joy. And yet, as the song changes, there comes happiness, and love in both new things and the old, only stronger, and with more reason and will to fight for it. And the song seems to say that, no matter how hard it gets, or how pointless it seems to keep fighting, you must, because something good comes out of everything. And that is an absolute truth; no matter how dark the sky is, or how long it remains that way, eventually the sun will shine, and the sky will be bright with the return of the sun to light up the world. And no matter how dark it is, there is still a trickle of light flowing in from somewhere. And though love may work in mysterious ways, work it does.
Sunset
The sky, alight with fantastic streaks of orange and red, yellow flowing colors mixing in with graceful swirls, setting the horizon on fire with a giant ball of flaming sunlight. It seems unreal that something so close can be so far away, being magnificent and radiant and beautiful yet also unreachable and blisteringly hot, and completely, heartbreakingly unattainable. And soon the warm brightness fades away, and the dark and cold night takes its place. For though the sun has left us, it does not depart forever -- it simply warms the other side of the world. And in it's absence it brings something else -- the promise of a new day.
The End
The clock booms out its final toll, signaling the end of my life. I smile as the painless arms wrap around me and carry me away. I know not of what is coming, and yet I am not afraid -- I know of a merciful God, one who has given me life and is now calling me back for another, possibly greater purpose. He calls me to his side, where I will find love and my loved ones, where I will find more happiness than I ever did in life. For, while living, I could not look upon the light without being blinded; now I can stare into it for an infinite amount of time, and never even need to blink. Because now I am stronger, and my soul is my body and I am love -- the heavens, for whatever reason, find me good, and I am found to be worthy of the light. For everyone, no matter how big or small, is worthy and good in their own way, and for everyone awaits something beautiful for the beautiful and unique person that they are.
