Essay: What Life is to Me

First of all, let me say that my eleven years on this planet have taught me very little about what life actually is. I mean, compared to my grandma, I'm like, well, a human compared to a dinosaur! (No offense Grandma, if you happen to be reading this.) Anyway, I guess I'll do me best.

Oh, and, by the way, while you're reading this, try not to look at it as an essay written by a child, but an essay written by a person. Now, let's begin.

Life is, most of all, unfair. Cry and whine as you might, you are not going to get a thousand dollars for Christmas. my sister tried that once. She hadn't learned that Santa isn't made of money. And neither are Mom and Dad, for that matter. It is also unfair because, when you ask for something like a new video game or a new really-expensive-item, an adult usually says, 'Maybe," which, in adult language, translates into,"I don't have the heart to say no and I don't really have time to think about it, so I'm going to give you an answer that will supply you a little bit of hope." Now don’t get me wrong, sometimes ‘Maybe’ is a really good answer given for really good reasons, and sometimes it’s an answer that weighs more towards yes than no. But usually it is uttered once and then the adult completely forgets about it. Example, my mom hasn’t talked about getting a puppy since I asked her two years ago.

Life is also unfair because there’s so much discrimination. There’s racial discrimination, gender discrimination, there’s even discrimination towards kids! I bet if you are older and reading this, you are laughing because you think it is nonsense because I’m a eleven and you’re a bajillion fifty-five. ‘Children should be seen, not heard.’ My aunt says that all the time. Okay, yes, most children are wild, hyper, and oblivious to the real world most of the time. Yes, we like to have fun and usually we get things all wrong. But sometimes we do have some sense. Kids can be wise at times. Not all the time, but at times. And really, who do you think is smarter, the kids who are spoiled and have fun, or the parents/guardians who slave away at work all day so the kids can be spoiled and have fun?

The last way that life is unfair is that it takes the worst turns at precisely the worst moments. Last year it was near Christmas time, the last day before winter break. The bell for school rang and in about two minutes flat there wasn’t a kid in that building. But when I got to the car, I was met with the sight of my grandma. This is a bad thing because my grandpa, who had prostate cancer, always picked me up from school. I learned his platelet levels had dropped and he was back in the hospital. I visited him and gave him his Christmas present early, like Mom told me to. It was a clock I had made for him in our garage earlier in the school year, with Dad’s help, of course. The willow wood was rather badly cut into the shape of a spade, because Grandpa liked to play all sorts of card games. It was a good thing I gave it to him, because the next day, Christmas Eve, he was dead. Now the clock sits on a shelf in my room, a sad but fond reminder of a great grandpa and an even better friend.

So, I conclude that life to me is unfair. Sure it can be good at some times, bad at others. I’m leaning towards the bad. Today at least. I’m not feeling very optomistic. We just moved here a week ago.