LJ Idol: Season 10, Week 15: Patchwork Heart

[my_name_is_jenn]

You're four years old when you experience death for the first time, only nobody really explains it to you. Maybe they do, but your four-year-old mind can't grasp the concept. All you know is at the funeral, you're told "Shelly's sleeping" and when you go to her house a few days later to play with her brother, you're confused as to why Shelly's not

Comments

[i_17bingo]

That beginning was pretty hard to read, but as the piece went along, it got a lot more positive and hopeful, and that made me happy.

[my_name_is_jenn]

Thank you! Once the basic idea started fleshing itself out in my mind, I started working on how to end this piece on a positive note. :)

[d0gs]

the first line :'( i experienced death as a three year old and my mother explained it to me and tbh the concept of mortality traumatised me so horribly i've never really gotten over it. i'm sorry you experienced that at such a young age.

i love how this ended on a high and very true note <3

[my_name_is_jenn]

It's hard when you're so young because little kids have such a difficult time grasping/processing something like that.

Thank you! <3

[rayaso]

This was a great way to present this: something bad, followed by " And you know things now that you never knew before." I'm glad you got to the knowing part, but getting there was a difficult journey.

[my_name_is_jenn]

Thank you. Life can tech you some difficult lessons, but you are who you are today because of them.

[bleodswean]

Some very terrible lessons here, but yes, we keep learning and the trick is to apply all this life education. Nice job with the prompt.

[my_name_is_jenn]

Yeah, life can be cruel sometimes. It does teach you some valuable lessons though.

Thanks.

[messygorgeous]

Isn't it funny how our parents do things to us, ostensibly to protect us, but that were completely unhelpful in the long run. I was diagnosed with ADD when I was in first grade, but my mom refused to give me ritalin - which I DO appreciate - but also never told me why it was so damn hard for me to sit still. It certainly made things challenging as a kid, but I overcame it on my own - created coping strategies - still, like you, I would have understood myself a little better had i known the truth.

I loved your repetition of "And now you know..." That is often how life teaches us tough lessons.

[my_name_is_jenn]

I think some parents sometimes try to protect their kids from the world so much that they end up unintentionally harming them.

Thank you!