More Sound

Reading my daughters’ essays on a sound and the emotions that the sound evokes really tore at my heart.

Here’s 14-year-old Alexandra’s essay:

Sound

The train whistle is such a sad sound. It makes me think of saying good-bye and how life passes and changes. I’m done with school*, I won’t see all my friends, and some I’ll never see again in my life, most likely, because they are seniors and have graduated.

Sometimes, late at night, when I hear the whistle, it makes me want to cry, thinking of everything I’ve lost and some of the things I have to let go of.

When a train passes and blows its horn, I often think of Camp Cherith. That’s where I often hear the trains passing at night while I lie in bed.

Mostly, though, a train whistle evokes feelings of sadness or longing and thoughts about life, how it’s like a train traveling along its tracks.

* Note: We’ve pulled both Alexandra and Larissa out of school this year to homeschool them. They’re in 10th and 8th grades; Jacob is in 11th grade.