With me being the winner, I bought the both of us Blueberry Ice Cream. We headed to a nearby bridge and watched the running water. While licking my ice cream, my finger found itself scratching my ear.

"You still do that?"

"Oh sorry." I was a bit embarrassed.

"No, I always liked how you did that. Don't be afraid to be you."

The air was quiet with only the sound of the water running and birds chirping.

"It can't be easy dealing with Savanna's Death, can it?"

For the first time ever, I was fine thinking about her and her death. "At first it was hard. I can't tell you how many nights I cried hoping she'd come back."

"You know, when I first heard about it, I felt like I lost a part of myself. I don't know why. It was like a memory was gone even though I only took like five classes with her in middle and high school."

"Honestly, I probably handled it better than Steve. Little did I realize how broken he was. He had a wife and a daughter. All I had was a sister."

"How is Steve doing now?" His ice cream was halfway gone as we stood close together leaning on the bridge. "Last I heard, he's moving to Scottsdale?"

"I'm hoping he's doing better now that he's moving there. He needed a change and needed a new future."

"Death can be tough, you know? I don't know if you know this or not, but I lost my brother to suicide two years ago."

There was a silence between us for a moment. "I'm so sorry." My hand was on his back.

"It was hard at first. Every day I questioned why he did it. Did he not like his life? I kept asking what I could've done to help him. Do you know what answer I came up with?"

My head shook saying no while not wanting to finish my ice cream.

"At the end of the day, it doesn't matter why he committed suicide. It wasn't my job to ask myself that. It was my job to ask how can I live my life right now and make it better? During the last two years of his high school career and into college, he struggled with depression and talked little about it. There were days I wish I could've talked to him about it. But like I said, how could I live my life in a better way? The past was gone and if I kept living in it, I wouldn't have much of a life. The only thing I could do was remember the good times I had with him and hopefully, I'll be able to see him again someday. But now every day when I teach my classes in Phoenix, hundreds of miles away from home, I always remember that home is home, no matter where you are."

"Where did you hear that quote?" Seriously, how did he hear that quote?

"This guy named Apricot. Apparently, he wrote this poem, 'Only God Could Create a Wonderful Sunset.' Nobody has read it except him."

I wanted to tell him I knew where that poem was but decided to hold off.

"Anyways," he continued. "I find it kind of amazing that you would want to partner with Sabrina considering she was responsible for Savannah's death. I don't know how I would've dealt with that."

"It's honestly not easy. Never in my life did I think that forgiving someone would be hard. But by accepting her offer, I must forgive her and move on with my life. I'm also just starting to realize that Savannah was partly responsible by looking at her phone. Anyways, moving on with life has been something difficult to even comprehend. Is there life without her?"

His eyes looking directly into mine with all seriousness. "Margo, there is a life without Savannah. I mean it sounds like you want there to be and there is. Savannah meant the world to you, correct?"

"Yes."

"She was your best friend?"

"Yes."

"My brother was my best friend. Do you want to know what else I discovered after his death? I must have asked several priests and a few preachers to get to this answer. Our family is usually our first friend. You see, anyone can claim they have a friend. Anyone can also claim they have a family member, but they never claim what they did with that friend or family member. They never claim how that someone made them feel or made them think. They never claim how that person shaped their life to be the person they are. Savannah wasn't just your sister or a best friend. She was your encourager, your motivator, your comforter. She was there through your bad times and your good times. Without her, you wouldn't be who you are today. If she was just a sister, I think you would've been a completely different person. And I think you also made her who she is even though it feels like she was the loudest and outgoing person I've ever known. And think about it, if Sabrina never met Savannah or vise versa, they wouldn't have been the loud and outgoing girls that everyone knew them by. Without Steve, that stalker would've had his way with you. Without you, Steve's relationship with Savannah would've been different. His marriage would've been different. Who knows how his daughter would've turned?"

It was at that moment I came to realize a few things. 

One, I knew exactly what I wanted to write. 

Two, my future was about to change.

Three, I was not the same girl I was on the day of Savannah's death. 

And four, Sabrina needed forgiveness. And by the look of Ben's face, he knew I realized all four of these things.

"I know where that poem is."

"You up for an adventure?"

We were going to be the first to see that poem. Although, I felt a little bad Steve wasn't going to see them. A little messed up, but he moved on.

Who knew Ben could be so insightful? Do you agree with what he said? How do you feel about what he said?

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