Storytelling 3 | The Greatest Love of All

Story behind a song

There are some unsent letters from me, my brother, my sister-in-law, and my beloved nephew. They were all written in our hearts, time will help us to send out the letters when it is time.

Letter from me

I was in London when I got a call from my sister-in-law. My nephew, Tommy, has been diagnosed with leukemia. He is the first kid of my brother, 7 years old this year. I still remember that he was born on the Valentine’s Day of 2006.

I have never talked to my brother for years. There were some misunderstanding between us and no one has initiated to solve them. One of the reasons I moved to London was to avoid seeing them and I just wanted to have a little peace for myself. That was selfish which I started to admit when years passed by.

Over the years, I realized that how important my family has meant for me. There is hardly someone out there who truly cares about you except your family member. However, my life has been settled down here in London, it is hard for me to go back and living like the old times.

Finally, I have a rational reason to go back to my hometown. I need to visit my nephew. He is too young and too innocent to fight with leukemia, who knows what is happening next after the chemotherapy treatment. He has yet to seen the world. He needs to go around the world to explore the other sides of the world.

Letter from my brother

My brother has moved to London some years ago. I have never seen him for quite a while. When he was young, I was almost like his second father. Dad always works at overseas. He is the youngest kid in the house and he has to hold my hands to feeling secured before falling to sleep.

In his seventeen, typically the age of teenage rebellion, he started to change. He was once the top student in school but not anymore after he got some new friends. They hung out together after school and usually came home late. The situation and their relationship became complicated that I do not really want to talk about it again.

Probably I have been too harsh on him in this issue that made him feeling annoyed of me. Since then, we seldom talk and he tried not to talk to me about anything. I was trying to help him, to lead him not going into a wrong direction but it did not seem working. In 2007, he left home.

Letter from my sister in law

I have never expected this to happen in my life. I would trade whatever I have to recover my kid. The chemotherapy has been going on for nearly half a year. This was the last treatment and we will be having a little celebration after leaving the hospital.

It has been a while, I could not have any sound sleep since the day Tommy was diagnosed with leukemia. I understand that it is a long journey to the road of recovery. This is a challenge in my life that God wants me to get through and I will be strong. If I am not strong, how is Tommy going to get through it?

Letter from my nephew

Everyone is worrying about me. I know that something has happened to my body but I do not want to see people around me being unhappy. Whether how bad is my situation going to be tomorrow, I just want to live happily today.

I heard that Uncle Joe is coming back. It has been a long time since the last time I saw him. Uncle Joe seldom talks to dad. I am not sure about what happened to them in past. I hope that Uncle Joe could move back from London one day so that I would ask him to teach me painting and playing the piano.

  

The Greatest Love of All by Whitney Houston

I believe the children are our are future

Teach them well and let them lead the way

Show them all the beauty they possess inside

Give them a sense of pride to make it easier

Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be

Everybody searching for a hero

People need someone to look up to

I never found anyone who fulfill my needs

A lonely place to be

So I learned to depend on me

I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadows

If I fail, if I succeed

At least I'll live as I believe

No matter what they take from me

They can't take away my dignity

Because the greatest love of all

Is happening to me

I found the greatest love of all

Inside of me

The greatest love of all

Is easy to achieve

Learning to love yourself

It is the greatest love of all

And if by chance, that special place

That you've been dreaming of

Leads you to a lonely place

Find your strength in love

Tommy passed away 1 year after the chemotherapy treatment. He had some mild infection but his body was too weak to survive from the infection. Sometimes, human beings are fragile, as fragile as dust.

It is 2014, January, this is the first year I am going back my hometown to celebrate Chinese New Year. I miss my home. Long live my family....