Makaila Brown couldn’t even remember a time when she hadn’t been in and out of hospitals. At the age of three she had been exposed to tuberculosis. Combined with the weak immune system she had been born with, there was little doctors could do to cure the small girl. The most they could do for he was insure her comfort for as long as the diesis remained manageable. By the age of five Makaila was almost constantly in the hospital, rarely being able to go home, and definitely not to school. Now, at the age of six, with only a week to go before her birthday, Makaila had been in the hospital for almost nine months. Over the New Year she had been able to go home for a short while, but the cold had gotten to her, and the smallest of colds had landed her right back in the hospital.
“Ok Makaila, that’s it for now, you know the drill. Call me if you need me, otherwise Ill be back in 2 hours. Ok?” The nurse asked, running a caring hand across the small girls head.
“Yes Angela” Replied the tiny voice belonging to the sickly girl. As the nurse left Makaila situated herself, shifting about to find a more comfortable position.
The door to her room had been closed quietly behind the nurse, and Makaila almost jumped out of her skin when it swung open suddenly to reveal a young man looking panic stricken.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I though you were someone else.” The stranger said, obviously much more relieved upon not finding the person he searched for in the room.
“It’s ok.” Makaila replied with a weak smile towards the now embarrassed looking man.
“Ok, well uh, I’m just going to go… Bye” He said nervously, turning to leave. He paused in the doorway to reach for the doorknob.
“You shouldn’t say goodbye, I’ll see you later mister.” Makaila said calmly as the door began to shut. She had just begun to settle down again, making herself comfortable on the hospital bed when the door swung open yet again.
“Why shouldn’t I say goodbye? What do you mean by Ill see you later?” The man questioned with an odd look on his face. “For all you know I might never pass through this door again.” His words were bitter, as if he didn’t like the girl telling him she’d see him later.
“Well mister, my mommy always told me to never say goodbye. Because goodbye means forever, and I don’t want to go away forever. Mommy says that when God makes babies be born, he tells them that he’ll see them later, because one day it will be their turn to go back to heaven to be angels. Mommy also says that my turn to see god again could be tomorrow or it could be in ten years, and that no one knows for sure. So instead of saying goodbye every time someone leaves to go somewhere else, I tell them that Ill see them later, because I don’t want to leave them forever.” The man simply looked in wonder at the little girl, a single tear managed to find it way from his eye and roll down his cheek as he simply watched the little girl with the pale features. Slowly he seated himself down at the foot of her bed and leaned for, prepared to listen to anything she had to say.
On September 10th 2001, exactly 2 days before her birthday, Makaila Erin Brown passed on to a better place.
September 15th 2001
“A horrible thing happened to us 4 days ago, and nothing anyone says will ever make it better for all of you, who have lost family and friends in the tragic event. But there is one thing which I am keeping close to my heart in these times of difficulty, and that is something a young girl told me not that long ago. Mister, when a baby is born, god says to it, Ill see you later. He says this instead of goodbye, because one day it will be their turn to go back to heaven to be angels. There is no need to ever really say goodbye. Good-bye is so… permanent, by saying good-bye your saying that you’ll never see that person again. So why say good-bye to someone, when you can instead say ‘I’ll see you later’? When saying I’ll see you later, your telling the person that you will see them again, and that this isn’t the end. So today, instead of saying goodbye to all of those we lost in the attack on America and all of you before me, I’ going to say,” A pause was taken by the speaker, “I'll see you later, and god bless. Thank you.” With that JC Chasez stepped away from the mic, and away from the silent crowd.
