It happened when I was young, just a child of ten years old. I experienced the first loss of a loved one. No, itwasn’t a death in the family. Aunt Tallydid not die a sudden death. It wasn’t my beloved pet dog trotting off to doggy heaven. None of the above. But it felt like a death, just the same. My first loss of a loved one was when my best friend in the whole world was no longer in my life. Boom! Gone in the blink of an eye! Well, it seemed like a sudden death to me! My best friend, Ellen, was at school with me on a Friday; same as usual, and by Monday, she had moved to the other side of the United States of America, never to be seen again. Her father had received a job offer that he could not turn down, and had pulled up stakes and moved far away. And where the Dad goes, his family goes, too. My friend, Ellen, was able to phone me and explain everything. It was all so hard to take in. I felt a roller coaster ride of emotions: sadness, a loss, and loneliness for my friend, abandonment, anger. I hurt, but still held out a little hope, too, that we could keep our friendship alive via lettersand a phone call now and then. I tried to be cheerful and encouraging. I missed my friend so badly! It left a big hole in my life. You see, my friend knew me well. We shared school time miseries and joys, the ups and downs of daily life. We played together at recess, shared food and fun. We would spend time just hanging out, giggling about the cute new boy in the class, or talking about the cool teachers or the meanies. There were school projects together, school plays, and time spent at my house, too. My friend, Ellen, liked me for who I was, even when she got to know my large and totally crazy family, consisting of waytoo many brothers and sisters. But maybe Ellen liked that atmosphere, come to think of it! We lived in a large and perpetually noisy and messy house. No amount of straightening up would ever really help, because the younger kids would just immediately mess...