My Butterfly

I remember the day Vanessa was born.
I was only a little girl at the time. When I was told I had a new little sister I cried because I had wanted a new baby brother instead. But gradually, I came to realize that having a little baby sister might not be so bad after all.
I remember the first time I went to visit Vanessa in the hospital.
Coincidentally, I had just watched a video about Helen Keller that morning. I looked over at Vanessa in the little incubator. I smiled and called out to her, and put my hand on top of the little box. Though she was awake, she did not react to me at all. I looked over at my mommy, asking “Doesn’t she see me?”
Mommy began to cry.
It took me a little while to understand that Vanessa could neither see nor hear me. She lived in a dark, silent world. I wanted to cry, but mommy was already crying and it would be too many people crying if I cried too. So instead I petted mommy on the arm and told her the story of Helen Keller.
Mommy just cried harder.
I remember the day when the doctors told us that Vanessa was going to die.
Mommy cried. Daddy cried. My little sister Shelly cried because they did, though she was too little to understand what was going on. I didn’t cry, because I didn’t quite understand either. I just got out my crayons and drew a picture of a butterfly to put up in her room.
I remember best the three months when she was at home.
I remember how she made you smile just by looking at her. I remember how she learned to different letters people formed on her when they entered the room, and how she would smile at you when you gave her your sign. I remember how much she loved to be tickled. I remember how much she loved it when her little plush dinosaur was held up to her face.
I remember Vanessa’s funeral.
I had been told that she was dead, But I didn’t really understand what that meant until I saw her, lying all still and cold in that little box they called a coffin. I remember going outside and crying, because I couldn’t understand why God would let her come down to earth to stay for such a short while, if she was only going to leave.
I looked up and happened to see a little butterfly on a flower right in front of me. I put out my finger and smiled involuntarily when it climbed on. Then it took off, leaving me alone again. It was as though it had accomplished its mission, to make me smile.
Vanessa had accomplished her mission too. She had made the world a brighter place. She had made us laugh, she had made us smile. She had brought a ray of sunshine into our house, and, having completed her mission, our little angel had flown back up to heaven where she belonged.
I smiled up at the butterfly, silently asking it to fly up to heaven and thank Vanessa for brightening up our lives.