Holly was very emotional when she found out that Gerry left her letters to read. “Holly held her breath, and with tears in her eyes and a pounding heart, she read the familiar handwriting…” (Ahern 29). She was happy that Gerry kept his word and wrote her the list that he said he would before he leaves her. Every month she was allowed to open only one letter. Every time she opened a letter, she did exactly what it said no matter what. She had a big fear of singing karaoke in front of people, but she did it anyway. Alls Sharon had to say was, “Gerry wanted you to do this for a reason” (Ahern 113) and she did it no matter how afraid she really was. When he told her to buy a lamp, she bought a lamp. When he told her to buy a new outfit, she bought a new outfit. Holly took the letters way too seriously and allowed a piece of paper to control her life. However, the letters did help her get through the tough times though. Also, the support of her friends and family helped her though the tough times as well. They all knew about the letters and were proud of Holly whenever she completed one of Gerry’s tasks, but there was one thing that was different about them than the letters. They were there for Holly and supported her more that the extent of the support and guidance the letters could ever give her. The letters did end up controlling Holly’s life for ten months, but they did teach her responsibility and allowed her to move on with her life, which was Gerry’s goal in the first place.
After Gerry died, Holly was afraid that she would not be able to make herself into something else, other than the woman that was meant to be with Gerry and live her life for him and around him. Now that he was gone, there was nothing for her to live for, nothing for her to pursue. Gerry somehow managed to write a list. Something that Holly could have after he died that would allow her to make it through this rough time and start her life again, and make it just as amazing as it was when he was there. These letters, one a month for ten months, were advice on the things that she would need to do to get her life back together. These letters were something Holly could have that would make her still have Gerry, even though he was gone. “Holly broke down, sadness sweeping over her. Yet she felt relief at the same time; relief that Gerry would somehow continue to be with her for another little while” (Ahern 30). She was able to still have him in her life through these letters, and they were the one thing that kept him on the Earth after he died. “With shaking hands, Holly put the card back into the envelope and secured it safely in a pocket of her bag. She felt Gerry’s eyes on her as she stood up…” (Ahern 250). These letters gave Holly the approval of Gerry to go and try new things, like karaoke and getting a job and doing this that would allow her to move on and still have him in her life forever. Holly’s family was there for her the whole time she was grieving, but their support was quite different. They tried to keep Holly’s happy, and they tried to comfort her all the time. “He walked towards her and held out his arms to offer her one of his big bear hugs. ‘How are you?’ he said quietly into her ear” (Ahern 45). Her family was there to console her and they never wanted to push her to do anything she didn’t want to or talk about it either, they were just there to have and they just wanted to see her happy. Gerry’s support through the letters was of course to see her happy, but he wanted her to move on and get over him as quickly as she could and he pushed her beyond what she thought she could do, while her family was the support as she did these hard things.
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Holly was very emotional when she found out that Gerry left her letters to read. “Holly held her breath, and with tears in her eyes and a pounding heart, she read the familiar handwriting…” (Ahern 29). She was happy that Gerry kept his word and wrote her the list that he said he would before he leaves her. Every month she was allowed to open only one letter. Every time she opened a letter, she did exactly what it said no matter what. She had a big fear of singing karaoke in front of people, but she did it anyway. Alls Sharon had to say was, “Gerry wanted you to do this for a reason” (Ahern 113) and she did it no matter how afraid she really was. When he told her to buy a lamp, she bought a lamp. When he told her to buy a new outfit, she bought a new outfit. Holly took the letters way too seriously and allowed a piece of paper to control her life. However, the letters did help her get through the tough times though. Also, the support of her friends and family helped her though the tough times as well. They all knew about the letters and were proud of Holly whenever she completed one of Gerry’s tasks, but there was one thing that was different about them than the letters. They were there for Holly and supported her more that the extent of the support and guidance the letters could ever give her. The letters did end up controlling Holly’s life for ten months, but they did teach her responsibility and allowed her to move on with her life, which was Gerry’s goal in the first place.
After Gerry died, Holly was afraid that she would not be able to make herself into something else, other than the woman that was meant to be with Gerry and live her life for him and around him. Now that he was gone, there was nothing for her to live for, nothing for her to pursue. Gerry somehow managed to write a list. Something that Holly could have after he died that would allow her to make it through this rough time and start her life again, and make it just as amazing as it was when he was there. These letters, one a month for ten months, were advice on the things that she would need to do to get her life back together. These letters were something Holly could have that would make her still have Gerry, even though he was gone. “Holly broke down, sadness sweeping over her. Yet she felt relief at the same time; relief that Gerry would somehow continue to be with her for another little while” (Ahern 30). She was able to still have him in her life through these letters, and they were the one thing that kept him on the Earth after he died. “With shaking hands, Holly put the card back into the envelope and secured it safely in a pocket of her bag. She felt Gerry’s eyes on her as she stood up…” (Ahern 250). These letters gave Holly the approval of Gerry to go and try new things, like karaoke and getting a job and doing this that would allow her to move on and still have him in her life forever. Holly’s family was there for her the whole time she was grieving, but their support was quite different. They tried to keep Holly’s happy, and they tried to comfort her all the time. “He walked towards her and held out his arms to offer her one of his big bear hugs. ‘How are you?’ he said quietly into her ear” (Ahern 45). Her family was there to console her and they never wanted to push her to do anything she didn’t want to or talk about it either, they were just there to have and they just wanted to see her happy. Gerry’s support through the letters was of course to see her happy, but he wanted her to move on and get over him as quickly as she could and he pushed her beyond what she thought she could do, while her family was the support as she did these hard things.
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