My perfect ending...

I love this book.

But I didn't always.

I remember when I first read it in fifth grade.

I thought the boy selfish and undeserving.

In fact, I kinda hated him.

That poor tree,

all that she did for that boy, all in the name of Love.

And where did it get her?

It got her to the point where she was a stump

and a old man's tushie was sitting on her!

Why didn't she ever tell that boy where he could shove off to?

She kinda made me mad,

letting him walk all over her like that.

So mad, in fact, that I never picked up that offending book again.

Until a couple months ago.

I read that book, with much of the same old feelings.

Then I read that book again.

And again.

And I really saw those 5 little words:

"And the tree was happy."

And it gave me pause.

I want to be that happy one day, I realized.

I want to give all that I can, all of myself, even, just as that tree did.

Life is hard.

It pushes at you

and pushes at you

until you are ready to push back.

Then it just pushes you some more,

throws you to the ground,

and proceeds to sit on your chest

until you pass out from lack of oxygen.

So to have those moments of Love amidst all that torture,

it kinda makes it worth it, right?

To know that I had made even one person happy,

well that's enough to make my story bearable.

And one day, it might read:

"And Liz was happy."