The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks - The End of Life

This is my last post on The Last Song, and even though I regret saying this, it's not a happy one. As I had predicted, her father became ill. In fact, he had been ill for a long time, and had decided it bet to keep it a secret from his family, as he knew for a fact his life would be ended in about a year or so. It started when he had been first noticing signs that something was wrong, and when he finally went to the doctors, he was told he had been diagnosed with stomach cancer, a cancer that could not be fully prevented from taking its own course. He remembers as well that is father was also diagnosed with stomach cancer earlier in Steve's childhood years. "It was over, he repeated to himself. In less than a year, he was going to die. Yes, he'd now something was wrong, and perhaps he'd even expected the doctor to deliver the news he had. But the memory of the doctor speaking the actual words began to recur in his mind, like an old-fashioned record skipping on a turntable (pg. 362)."

The day the turtle eggs hatched, the town gathered around the nest and watched as the many littler baby turtles broke free from their bondage and scattered into the water. The surprisingly beautiful moment had left Ronnie and Will happy, and overjoyed by what they had seen, even though Ronnie was worried about the baby turtle's lifespans. After Will made her feel slightly better, they sighted Ronnie's father and brother close by. They approached them in time to see her father go into a coughing attack, which would later lead him to be put in the hospital. "He gasped again, then lowered his hands. For what seemed like the longest few seconds of her life, Ronnie was frozen in place, suddenly more scared than she'd ever been. Her father's face was covered in blood (pg. 357)." I can relate to the way Ronnie felt. I too experienced watching my father reacting suddenly to his sickness, and the pain you feel is more greater than any pain you could ever have in your lifetime. Ronnie must have felt the same way, as the authored described her to be "more scared than she'd ever been." This is probably the most important thing I have related my life to in the The Last Song.

Later on when Steve was being treated in the hospital Ronnie became slightly dissappointed that her own family had kept something so important from her for so long. I imagine that what she was feeling wasn't really dissaoppointment, but frustration that this is what she had just started to get to know her father, and suddenly may have had to let it all go once again, as she somewhat pinpointed later on. I probably would have been frustrated as well, and mabye even a little disspaointed myself, as I may have felt very confused about how something so large could have come up so suddenly. She also may have been frustrated with herself by not figuring out what was oging on sooner, and discouraged that for a lot of her life she had treated him with disrespect and like an "alien." "Suddenly she knew why her dad had wanted her and Jonah to come to North Carolina... And his ceaseless work on the window now made perfect sense. She recalled his coughing fit in the church and the times he'd winced in pain. In hindsight, the pieces all fit together. Yet everything was falling apart... Despite herself, she remembered the day day she'd arrived at his house and the anger she'd felt toward him; she remembered storming off, the though of touching him as an alien to her as space travel. She'd hated him then and now she loved him (pp. 366/367)."

Throughout the novel, Steve had been trying his best to let himself experience God's presence, and he had failed at feeling such a strong being anywhere near him. I am religious, and even though there is no visible proof that God is real, I still believe in him and his name. Steve felt the same way. Even though his quest had had no apparent results, he never gave up on himself OR God. This is one of the most special things It thought there was to learn about Steve's character. He was brave to take his children back into his life as well, after all the years that had passed. And I realize now that I truly admire Steve and how hard he worked, and how he never gave up. I am very sad that my prediction had come true, but I also believe that his character and I have learned a valuable lesson: if you know your time is near, take advantage of everything you have now... you'll never regret it.