Here is an excerpt from “Chaotic Beauty” an upcoming project from Jonathan D. Young.
Have you ever found yourself, wondering if your life is good because you believe so, when it truly isn’t? I thought I knew what it meant to have the “good life” and a “normal life” The question remained though, was normal really that “good” The day-to-day grind, the comfortable environments, the stable people; was this all there was to this life we have? I have story for you that I think answers is. Let me bring you back to our setting, Southwest High, in the middle of nowhere, the American Midwest.
The first day of my 11th grade year was far from what would call interesting. I found myself that morning, in our house on 5th street getting ready for what the fall semester might hold. It was a modest house, with not much to show, a lot like us. Its walls were square shaped and formed a standard four-sided cube. The roof was pointed in a near perfect triangle, with the left side longer than the other. To pair with it, there were whitewashed windowpanes and broken shutters that hadn’t been used in years. Out from there, our little two story, 3-bedroom home was surrounded equally by greenish-brown grass, with a white mailbox in the front right corner. This mailbox with its chipped wood and fading paint matched the house it was attached to it. Almost 20 years of life and love can do that to any place, I guess. Nestled in that same fading grass, was a slanted block with a message etched in it. It was familiar to me, and often I didn’t consciously notice it. It read, “Reed Family, Established 1999. And for our sweet angel Amelia, August 15th 2002-December 6th, 2004…