Todays Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul

[Guest guest]

Light in the Window

By Eileen Goltz

It was the first night of Chanukah and the night

before Ellie's last final. As a freshman she was more than

ready to go home for the first time since August. She'd

packed every thing she needed to take home except the books

she was cramming with and her menorah, the 8 branch

candelabra that's lit every night of Chanukah. Ellie had

been so tempted to pack the menorah earlier that night.

However, just as she was getting ready to justify to

herself why it was OK to " skip " the first night's lighting

- (A) she'd have to wait for the candles to burn out before

she could leave for the library and ( she had no clue as

to where her candles were hiding - her conscience (and

common sense) kicked in. The voice coming from that

special place in her body where " mother guilt " resides

said, " You have the menorah out, so light it already. "

Never one to ignore her mother's advice, Ellie dug up the

candles, lit them, said the blessings, placed the menorah

on her window sill and spent the rest of the evening in her

room studying.

Ellie's first winter break was uneventful, and when

she returned to her dorm on the day before classes started

she was surprised to find a small note taped to her door.

" Thank you, " the note said. It was signed " . "

It was dated the day that Ellie had left after finals.

Ellie was totally perplexed. She didn't know a .

Convinced that the letter had been delivered to her by

mistake, Ellie put the note on her desk and forgot about

it.

About a half an hour before she was getting ready to

head out for dinner, there was a knock at Ellie's door.

There, standing in the hall was a woman Ellie didn't

recognize. " I'm , " she said. " I wanted to thank you

in person but you'd already left before I finished my

finals. "

" Are you sure it's me you're looking for? " asked

Ellie. asked if she could come in and explain.

It seemed that had been facing the same dilemma

that Ellie had been that first night of Chanukah. She

really didn't want to light her menorah either. Not

because she was packing, or was heading home, couldn't find

the candles or because she busy studying but because her

older sister Hannah had been killed by a drunk driver ten

months earlier, and this was the first year that she'd have

to light the menorah candles alone. The sisters had always

taken turns lighting the first candle and this wasn't

's year. She just couldn't bring herself to take her

sister's place. said that whenever it was Hannah's

turn to light the first candle, she'd always tease

that the candles she lit would burn longer and brighter

than when lit them. One year she even went so far as

to get a timer out. It had always annoyed that

Hannah would say something so stupid but still, it was part

of the family tradition. said that it was just too

painful to even think about Chanukah without Hannah and she

had decided on skipping the entire holiday.

said that she had just finished studying and was

closing her drapes when she happened to glance across the

courtyard of the quad and saw the candles shining in

Ellie's window. " I saw that menorah in your window and I

started to cry. It was if Hannah had taken her turn and

put the menorah in your window for me to see. " said

that when she stopped crying she said the blessings, turned

off the lights in her room and watched the candles across

the quad until they burned out.

told Ellie that it was as she was lying in bed

that night thinking about how close she felt to Hannah when

she saw the menorah, that it dawned on her that Hannah had

been right. Hannah's last turn always would have candles

that would burn longer and brighter than any of 's

because for , Hannah's lights would never go out.

They would always be there, in her heart for to see

when she needed to reconnect with Hannah.

All had to do was close her eyes and remember

the candles in the window, the one's that Hannah had lit

the last time it was her turn.