Funny how it takes tragedy to make someone look more closely at his or her life. Thirteen-year-old Kerry Sherman's life was about as perfect as you can get. She had good grades, a lot of friends, and a great family. She especially idolized her 16-year-old sister, Madi. Madi was everything Kerry wanted to be and more. Kerry knew no one was perfect, but her sister seemed so close to it that it was hard to believe someone like her even existed.

One Friday night, as Kerry got ready to go to the movies with some of her friends, Madi came in Kerry's room and sat down on the bed. They talked as they usually did, but Madi seemed happier than usual, if that was possible. She claimed that she was going to the mall with some friends, and a boy that she had been trying to get the attention of for about a week. Kerry didn't understand how anyone could not pay attention to Madi. Madi was beautiful. Thick brown curls with blonde highlights thrown in everywhere cascaded down to just past her shoulders, and her hazel eyes always had a definite sparkle in them. She had a dazzling smile that Kerry was always trying to imitate, but could never quite get the hang of.

They had a great time in Kerry's room trying out hairstyles, and talking about whom they liked, and making jokes for about an hour, and when Kerry's friend's mother finally pulled into the drive, Kerry was almost sad she was leaving. Kerry walked down the stairs and turned around as she heard Madi tell her to have a good time, and that they'd see each other later that night. Kerry ran to the car outside quickly to get out of the rain, and Madi waved from the window as they left.

Kerry had a laughter-filled two hours of fun watching Big Momma's House at the theater, and on the drive back to her house she laughed just as much as her friends imitated a lot of what they had seen. When she got to her house, she said goodbye and ran into the house to get out of the seemingly endless rain.

As soon as she got inside, she wondered what in the world was going on. No one was home at all, and there was no note on the refrigerator, the coffee table, or anywhere for that matter. After sitting on the couch for about half an hour wondering where everyone was, she decided to call a friend to come and keep her company. As Kerry walked to the phone, she noticed for the first time the blinking light on the answering machine. As she pressed the button, she listened to a message that at first sounded like laughter, but she soon realized that it was really the uncontrolled sobbing of a woman, and then she realized the woman was her mother.

Kerry could barely make out the words as her mother told of the situation at hand. Madi had been in a car wreck on the way to the mall. She had been driving on a bridge, slick from all the rain when her car began spinning out of control and collided with another. The people in the other car were all okay, but her sister was not so lucky. At this point the room started spinning. Kerry rewound the tape and listened to the message again just to make sure it wasn't a bad dream. Sure enough, it was real.

Numbly, Kerry unplugged the answering machine so the awful message would stop. Her sister, Madi, her beautiful kind sister had been in a car wreck and was now in a coma at some second-rate hospital in the city. Anger overwhelmed Kerry and she threw the answering machine across the room where it collided with a wall and broke. It did not console her in the least bit. Anger overtaken by sadness, she allowed herself to collapse on the hard, cold linoleum floor of the kitchen with the same uncontrolled sobbing that she heard on the answering machine.

Trying desperately to control herself, she picked herself up off the ground and called her friend, Heather. She tried to explain the situation with letting her tears be heard, but it was an impossible job. Heather spoke to Kerry in a soothing voice, and told Heather that her mother was going to take Kerry to the hospital to be with her family.

Kerry hung up the phone as Heather said not to worry, and that they would be over soon to pick her up. Kerry didn't have to wait long. She suspected that Heather's mother must have been going around 90 miles an hour to get there as quickly as she did. On the way to the hospital, both Heather and her mother tried desperately to cheer Kerry up, but eventually they stopped and simply turned on the radio, seeing that nothing they were saying was helping at all.

When they arrived, Heather and her mother bid Kerry goodbye as they dropped her off at the front door. They told her if she ever needed anything to just call them, but Kerry didn't need anything but her sister. If she had Madi, everything would be fine.

Madi stayed in a coma for almost 4 months until she finally opened her eyes. However, not much truly improved. Madi was in a vegetative state, and Kerry was still extremely upset. Every night she cried herself to sleep, and every morning she woke up crying.

Eventually, Madi was brought home to be in her own room, with her family, in her own bed. The Sherman family took her to every specialist there was, every therapist that might have helped, but despite their hopes for a miraculous recovery, none came. Madi Sherman died at age 18, almost two years after the accident occurred, at home in her own bed surrounded by all the people who she loved, and who loved her.

Kerry held her sister's hand the complete hour before Madi died. Kerry had promised herself that she'd be strong for Madi when this moment came, as everyone knew it would, but it was as impossible not to cry as it had been when Kerry had first received news of the crash. The doctors had spared no feelings. They had told the family there was no hope for Madi, and when they had checked on her that day, the doctors told them she probably wouldn't live through the night. For the now 15-year-old Kerry, this was torture. All those years she had hoped and prayed for some great and wonderful miracle were nothing.

As she held Madi's hand that night, Kerry was, for once, glad that Madi's eyes had opened. Madi had expressive eyes, and even though her brain was destroyed, her eyes still showed Kerry what she felt. Kerry knew by looking into them that Madi knew what was happening, and that she'd be in a better place. Madi wasn't worried, and Kerry could tell. Why then, was Kerry so frustrated? Moments before her sister's death, Kerry leaned down and whispered to her that she loved her and always would, and that Madi was still her idol, no matter what happened.

Some months later, Kerry sat hunched over her computer's keyboard at 1:00 in the morning waiting for her brain to think of something to write for her narrative that was due at 8:00 a.m. that day. Her eyes drifted away from the screen, and rested on an extremely old cabinet in the corner of the room. Inside it was a doll she had received from Madi on Christmas Eve when she was only 10 years old, which she had forgotten even existed. The gift had disappointed Kerry because the lace on the doll's dress was crooked, its hair was cut unevenly, and one eye was painted higher than the other one. Kerry had never understood why Madi had bought it for her in the first place, but she now had a new understanding. Madi had seen the beauty in it despite its imperfection, as she did in everything, and now Kerry did also.

Kerry's eyes came back to the computer screen as she finished her narrative, calmed by memories and a new outlook on life. So many years ago Madi had given her that doll, and it was just now that what Madi had seen was passed on to Kerry. Kerry understood why she had looked up to Madi, and why she still did. Madi had a way of looking at the world and calling it beautiful, despite the constant wars and the destroying of the environment. She could look at a person and say they were beautiful even if they weren't seen that way by anyone else. Madi looked at life and said it was beautiful, even though it was bruised by moments of crisis, despair, and other hurtful moments.

Kerry felt sudden warmth as she realized that Madi had seen every person, every moment, every little thing as beautiful even though they weren't perfect, as nothing could be. Kerry knew right then and there that what Madi had seen was now her view as well, and Madi would always be with her through everything a 15-year-old would go through. Madi would be there when Kerry went to college, and she would be there when Kerry would marry the love of her life. She would be with Kerry for the rest of her life, which would always be looked back upon and called beautiful, despite its imperfection.