ILY

Guess what ILY stands for? It's the acronym of I Love You! Where and how did I learn it? There's a story about it. It's a story about the friendship between two women.
Anita was one of the students whom I taught in the second year of my teaching career. At that time I was only 26, and she was 20. When she was in her early 30s, she moved to Australia and got married. A year later, she had her first and only child—Emily, a very lovely girl. Life was perfect for Anita because she had a husband who loved her and a daughter whom she loved. However, in March 1998 when Emily was one year and 10 months old, I got a phone call from Anita. At the other end of the phone, she was crying sadly. She told me the most terrible news I could hear--her daughter had been diagnosed with a kind of eye cancer. Shocked about the news, I was speechless, but there was a voice coming from the bottom of my heart; which said “Go to Australia to comfort Anita.” Without hesitation I told her I would visit her over my spring break, which was three weeks away. In about 10 days, I got everything ready: my visa to Australia, the round trip ticket, and myself.
After 8 hours’ flight, Anita and I finally hugged each other at the airport of Sydney. Then during the next 7 days, we cried together and talked until midnight every day. We didn’t go anywhere. We just stayed home talking about her daughter. On the day before I left for Taiwan, she suggested that we have a short trip. She took me to the Harbor and the Opera House. We had a dinner in a restaurant near the Harbor. While we were eating, she told me how much she appreciated my visit.  I told her I was very happy that she chose me to share her saddest moment with her.
12 years later in 2010, she invited me to visit her. I took my second trip to Sydney. Wanting to make it up for me, Anita and her husband, Garry, did their best to be good hosts. They took me to the Blue Mountain with their lovely daughter, Emily. Anita prepared delicious meals during the two weeks I stayed. She cooked paella, lobsters, crabs, and many other delicious foods.
Every afternoon Emily, a talented teenager who got a full scholarship of music, had to practice playing the violin and piano. While she was practicing, I would sit in the corner listening. One day she got a phone from her buddy. At the end of their conversation, Emily said "ILY" to her friend. Then I asked her what it meant. The answer was "I Love You!" ILY sounds so beautiful that I have used the acronym with my husband since I came back to Taiwan. Whenever I say "ILY", I think of Anita and Emily. No other words can best describe the friendship between me and Anita!