The Secret to Hummingbird Cake

by Celeste Fletcher McHale

Ella Rae stared at her for a moment. “So just walk up to some old guy on the street and say, ‘Here’s a fish’?”

Lol

Mitch Montgomery were in front of me right now, I’d beat him to a bloody pulp. He left her and she was still trying to protect him? “What do you want, Laine?”

yes

At least Ella Rae wasn’t trying to pull that rah-rah crap with me. The last time I had seen her, she was in the corner of the room gagging. She bugged out at the first sign of blood. I would’ve laughed about it if I weren’t giving birth to what was surely an alien baby, ripping its way into the world.

heard Ella Rae hit the floor when she fainted. Then I heard my baby cry.

Funny

I knew as soon as I touched her that my life would never be the same, and I didn’t want it to be. This soft little helpless creature wiggling and squirming in my arms tugged at my heart in a way I had never felt before.

Love

“Take pictures?” she said. “I couldn’t even look.”

It’s not how long you live; it’s what

you leave behind.

The truth of the life we live.

brought me some measure of comfort on t...

She reminded me constantly that as soon as she closed her eyes, she’d be in the presence of God. “I don’t want an open casket. People would look at me and see a shell and feel sorry for me. But I’ll already be in paradise.” She had the faith of a child, and I wished I had half of it.

“You are responsible for what you do. No matter what you go through, no matter what happens to you, no matter how much someone hurt you, the choices you make are ultimately your own.” It was

To learn this is maturity.

Laine’s voice. I heard it as clear as a bell.

That’s the bad thing about grieving anyone or anything. You have to go through it, not around it.”

Truth! If this truth is the only thing you come away with after reading this story, then your time was well spent!