Words Of Wisdom

I couldn't help but smile at the look in my grandmother's eyes as she reached for my hand. "Hi Grandma," I said, sitting on the chair beside her bed in the hospital.
"Amy," she said, her voice so quiet and weak I could only just hear her. I offered my hand and she clutched it tight in both of her own.
"Amy, I won't be here much longer," she said, but I stopped her in her tracks.
"Please don't say that Grandma,"
"But there was something I wanted to tell you, dear," she said, as if I hadn't spoken at all. "You only get one chance at this. You only get one life." I said nothing, simply holding her gaze as I leaned in close, waiting for her to go on. "Amy, I want you to grab it, in both hands, and never let go. You've got to live with all you've got. When you're in my position, in many years to come, I don't want you to have a single regret. Can you do that for me?" I nodded solemnly. I would do anything for my Grandma. Though at the time, I didn't quite understand what she was asking of me. Not completely.

My grandmother left us not long after that heartfelt request, and walking away from her funeral, I vowed to keep my promise and fulfill her wish, and as I grew older, I began to understand just what she'd asked of me all those years ago. "Grandma," I'd ask, looking up at the sky. "Why did you ask this of me? It's impossible! How can I do the impossible."
It was as if she'd heard me, I thought, for a fresh gust of wind began to blow then, and I swear I could almost hear a whisper in the wind. "Amy," it said, "I believe in you. Do it for me." And it sounded just like Grandma too. Smiling, I continued on my way. I could do this. I had to. If for nothing else, than for my Grandma.

I still think Grandma heard me that day, because when I went home, I found things that answered the reason behind her request. I'd found Grandma's journal, which told a story of a love she'd lost, her dreams of the different paths she could have taken and how her life may have been different. The last entry, on the very last page of the journal had been written not too long before she'd gone.
Throughout my life, I have had many different choices. There have been many different paths I could have taken, and though I have wondered what would have happened had I taken those different paths, ultimately, I am happy with where I am, right now. I have lived a life which, when I look back and reflect upon it, I can be proud of, and leave behind with a smile.
So maybe Grandma didn't regret anything, I thhought after reading that. But I knew my Grandma, and I think that love she'd lost was something big for her. I think it was one of those things she'd wondered about if she'd taken the path, what if... I smiled at the thought when I realised the reasons behind her request. She was trying to save me from the same heartache that she had felt, the same regret, and for that I was grateful.

Out in the garden that afternoon, I looked up at the sky again. "For you Grandma," I said, smiling, "for you." Again, she could have heard me, for the sun beat down it's warmth a little more on me, and the birds began to sing.