December 1, 2009
Dear Stephenie Meyer,
Thank you very much for writing Twilight. At the time I was reading this outstanding piece of literature, my family was going through an extremely difficult time. My grandfather (Papa) passed away and my grandmother underwent a massive stroke. A big loss for all of us. She is now stuck in a wheel chair. While I was reading your book, I could just escape from all of the chaos of the outside world, relax, and let myself sink into a great book. Kind of like when Edward and Bella were laying in the secret meadow.
When I wasn’t reading, the world was full of loss, sadness, and grief. One day when I was going through one of Papa’s old trunks in his room, I found a tape. I put it in the player and the song that he had composed on the violin was so beautiful and mesmerizing it blew me away. Almost like “Bella’s Lullaby.” Some of my family knew about the song, but in a way, I felt responsible for finding it. Like I had written it with him, I understood all of the feeling and love he had put into it.
After I finished Twilight, I suddenly understood that behind every person, no matter how perfect or wonderful we perceive them to be, there are always problems. Either with the family or the emotions, or maybe just a tough time he or she may be going through at that current moment in their life. For instance, when Bella went to live with Charlie and her mother was in a new relationship; even though my struggles don’t relate specifically to those, I have to overcome them just as Bella did.
I still miss Papa. Sometime I just feel him around me and it makes me heartsick. Or maybe I’m just sad because I have just taken my grandmother for a walk in her wheelchair. Whatever the case may be, I would listen to his song. Since it didn’t have a name when I discovered it, I took the liberty of naming it myself. “Taylor’s Lullaby.”
Papa was one of my best friends, and you helped me find a way to make him part of my life again.
Thank you Stephenie Meyer.
Sincerely
Taylor Haines
6th Grade
Rogers Park Elementary School, Anchorage, Alaska
Teacher: Dallas Price