Life as I know it

My mum has always been the biggest influence on my life.

A married woman now, I have seven children, all of which I love dearly and hold close to my heart. My mother taught me how to be a great mother, even though she was never really one to talk, considering she left me and my brother when we were fourteen.

I remember, she always told me the same thing, over and over again. I'd come home crying because someone was being mean and whatnot, and she'd hold me in her arms until my sobs were mere hiccups. Everyday she'd tell me the same thing.

"Snow, darling." She'd whisper in my ear. "What happens when life gives you lemons?"

"Uh… make lemonade?" that's what I'd always say, because that's what my daddy taught me: logic.

"No, darling, not at all…" she'd say, then tell me this magnificent fairytale about a girl and her king, how she defied his every step, but loved him more than life itself. How stupid she was when she was only a mere child, fifteen and so vulnerable, pride in the way of what she felt. I loved to sit in bed late at night when I couldn't sleep and imagine the king as my father and the girl as my mother.

After the story ended with "…and they lived happily ever after." She'd tell me, "When life gives you lemons, my dear Snow Arrazola, you pucker up and deal with whatever life throws at you next."

My mother loved life more than anything. She put us before anything, but if she loved anything more than us, it was life. She was the best actress our town had, she wrote many children's fantasy novels, and she did everything that she thought was fun. My father, on the other hand, was a realist. He never approved of my mother's childish beliefs and fantasy. As I grew up, my mum spent more time with me and my twin brother, Tom than my father. She even slept on the couch instead of in their own bed.

Finding that little red novel in the attic was probably what saved my mother from suicide. As much as my mum loved life, she was near the brink of ending her own, because of the inertia of her life, she'd tell me. The lemon she had was too big for her, almost, and I just couldn't stand seeing her in so much pain, so I went to the attic to look for help.

It was called The Labyrinth. It didn't have an author, or description, just the little book. I read it over and over and over again, something was nagging me to do so.

One fine day, I pointed to my mum and whispered "I wish the goblins would take you away, right now." And that's when this mess happened.

Now, I had never been one of fantasy, my mother knew that. Snow Arrazola wasn't a dreamer like her mother, until she disappeared into thin air when I said the words.

It took two hours for her to reappear in front of me, and for the first time in months, she was happy.

She left for work early after then, and came home late. Every night she came home later and later, and left earlier and earlier. I just passed it off as her being happy and went about my business. She'd still tell me the Lemons riddle every single day, but every day it seemed as if she glowed brighter. I was happy that she was happy. She got anonymous roses all the time, telling me they were from father. I never believed her. She didn't love him enough for that.

Then, daddy started to get angry at all of us. He beat mummy and screamed at Tommy. I usually steered clear of father when I had to. He was Vic Arrazola, a realist who hated everybody that looked at mum, much less someone who "fucked her in the closet" as he put it. Mum never had a sexual affair, I knew this for sure. She might have been seeing another man, which I'm positive of, but she never had any sexual relations with him, whoever he was.

One night, she came home late, claiming it was work that kept her. She still had that bright smile on her face. Daddy was drunk, asking her where she'd been all this time and who she was with, blablabla, the usual. They screamed all night, and when I went to check to see if mummy was okay, she was bleeding in many places and naked. Daddy had gone, and she was curled up into a ball, crying something awful. Tommy and I helped her into a bath and cleaned her wounds. We knew what had happened.

Two weeks later, Tommy and I came home from school to see her packing her bags and doing so very quickly. Daddy would be outraged. She told us to take some clothes and snacks and run to Aunt Seliva's house so we wouldn't have to face daddy ever again. Mummy had filed a divorce and was leaving us for the man she was in love with. I was fourteen.

She told me to never forget that the magic was in my heart, and I never have forgotten that.

Years later, she came back. She looked so different; her eyes were different, hair more luscious than I remembered. She wrote all the time, always kept in contact with us. Her husband was some sort of Monarch named Jareth. She told me that he took amazing care of her and their expecting; that she was amazingly happy. And I was glad, because I never wanted to see Mum Sarah upset again.

My mother taught me how to love a mother's way. She taught me to always do what was happy. She told me to do what made me happy, like she did. After awhile of letters from mum, I decided to write a book about my happiness and how I got there.

You see, life has a lot of lemons to throw at you as you move along. Life isn't fair, as my mum used to always tell me. Always she asked me the same damned question, and I never understood it until now.

You see, when life throws you lemons, it's just one of the schemes in the story of your life. When life throws big nasty sour lemons at you, pucker your lips and move on. It's just one chapter. But never close the book, just turn the page and start over. My mother, Sarah Williams taught me more about life than I could ever know. And no matter what, she was always happy. She always made sure she could make sure we were happy and she was happy. This fancy monarch of hers was the best thing that had ever happened to her.

Happiness is a choice. You can either feel miserable and hate everything, or you can choose to be happy, and make the best of what life gives you. Now that I know of my mother's fate, I hope she outlives the stars in total bliss. I believe that man really loves her.

Mother told me always to be happy, and because of her I always will.

The message for you is to smile. Be thankful that you're alive. Life is a gift, don't waste it on things or people that aren't worth your time. Live like it's your last hour, love like you've never been hurt, sing like no one can hear you, and breathe like you're out of breath. Be happy, and live.

And remember: when life gives you lemons, pucker up and deal with whatever happens next.