I read a book called Okay for Now, and in one part of the story, the main character, Doug, sees a picture of an arctic tern, and he sees the bird as if he's falling into the ocean, terrified. But later on, near the end of the story, he looks at the picture again with his brother, Lucas, that just came from the Vietnam War and lost both his legs and can't see very well. But, when he sees the arctic tern, he sees the bird as being brave and thinking about which way he can fly, since he can fly anywhere, something like that. I feel like this was supposed to represent Doug and in some ways, Lucas. Doug, in the beginning, is abused by his father and is kind of empty inside. But, he then makes friends with Lillian. He also learns about the birds, like the arctic tern. They are all in a book and he finds out that they are selling some of the illustrations because they are extremely valuable. He gets mad at this, because he feels as if the book is going to be empty, too. So, he gets some of the illustrations back from the buyers and puts it back in the book. He feels more full inside, more lively. He starts becoming braver than before, not scared of life. At the same time, he finds out that Lillian has cancer. Although it's sad, he learns to believe that she will be okay. He was like the bird, thinking he was falling to his death, but he ended up seeing it as an opportunity to change. Lucas was chosen to fight in the Vietnam War. As you would imagine, he would be scared. But now that he came back from war, he's changed and is now braver. I learned that even when it feels as if it's hopeless, as if everything's pointless, there's always a reason, an opportunity to change. To make things right. To be brave, and to not be afraid of whatever life throws at you. To have faith that you and everyone else you love can get through the hardest times. (I know this was kind of dramatic, soooo... sorry.)
