The day I met Mara was the best day of my life. She was a young woman living the street life, carrying a baby her boyfriend didn’t want. I offered her a home, and she just looked up at me, smiled, and said, “I’m strong. I’ll get through this.” I came by every day after school, bringing her food, matches, and clothing. It took me three months to realize how much I loved her. We spent some weekend nights on top of the school, looking at the stars. “Jacob? What’s wrong with the world?” She laid her head on my shoulder. “In another universe, I could’ve been special. I could’ve been somebody. But here…” She looked down at her baby girl, then looked back at me. “Jacob?” “Yeah?” “If I die…can you take her?” I gaze into her green eyes. “You’re not going to die. It’s going to be okay.” Tears start to well up in both our eyes. “But if I do, Jacob. Don’t let her die. Please.” I take her head in my hands. “Of course.” I bring my head down to kiss her.

The next day, when I came back from after school, her body lay on the ground, with her baby next to it. I shook her and screamed and wailed to try and get her to wake up, but she didn’t. Her baby looked up at me with big, green, cold, dead eyes. I took the baby in my arms, kissed her on the head, and laid her back down. “Goodbye,” I choked out. They both died of bone cancer. I gave them a Christian burial, and went to visit them every day after school…

  As I laid on my deathbed, a young woman walked up and stood next to me with a baby balanced on her waist. I smile and stare into those big green eyes. “Hello, Mara.”

  Jacob Smith- Loving Friend and Brother- 1978-2015- Gone to meet the woman he loves.

  Jacob Smith- Patient- Diagnosed with Bone Cancer 2010