Forgiving an Unforgotten Loss, Continued

Forgiving an

Unforgotten Loss, Continued

By Amanda Lombardo, Class of 2013

Manhattan, New York

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4

                When my father saw Max he looked at me and said, “I’m so sorry Mandy. ”

            When my brother saw Max he picked him up and ran to our neighbor’s place. While banging on the door with tears in his eyes he yelled, “Mr. Wesley, you poisoned my dog. I knew you never liked us but why, why Max? He didn’t do anything!” My dad ran after him to try and settle him down.

            After my father calmed us, he took us both and we sat on the fire escape.  Then he said something I will never forget. “Some people are good and some people are evil. It is always harder to be good over evil because sometimes we must forgive and forget the people that do us harm.” Then he recited “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

            When I was getting ready for school the next morning, I started thinking about Max and our neighbor. I started thinking about what Mr. Wesley must have been experiencing, to go through such a measure as killing an innocent creature.  So right then, I got down on my knees and prayed for Mr. Wesley (and also for Max to go to doggie heaven). Of course, I was hurt because Max was dead, but I felt sorry for our neighbor.  So, I wrote him a letter saying “I forgive you and I love you as I love myself.” When I walked past Mr. Wesley’s apartment on the way to school I slid the letter underneath his door.

            I never saw Mr. Wesley again after that night, but I was content in my heart that I did the right thing, and that when God looked down at me, he would be pleased. About a week later, I found an envelope with my name on it under the door. Inside was a letter and three hundred dollars. The letter said something like “I’m so sorry Amanda, it had to take a child to make me realize what I did was wrong. This is all the money I have at the moment, and I know it can’t replace your best friend but I hope it helps.”

            To an eight year old, three hundred dollars is like three million dollars.  I was so surprised!  When I told my brother and father about the letter, they just smiled at me and looked up at the sky from our fire escape.