Before I Die

Before I Die is a fictional novel by Jenny Downham. The story is about a 16-year-old girl named Tessa Scott who, as you may have guessed from the title, has leukemia. She was diagnosed when she was 11, and had been doing chemo, and every other perceivable treatment, since then. She was not getting better, and she knew she wasn't going to.
The language in this book isn't ''soppy''. It used short, and very sharp, sentences. Written from the view point of Tessa, the language did have a certain morbid wit about it.
She made a list of everything she wanted to do before she 'went'. Drugs. Fame. Love.
One thing was that she had to say yes to everything for one day.
She wanted to fit a life into 8 months.
I know it's quite predictable, but reading this story has made some things I, and a lot people, worry about seem embarrassingly trivial. It made me want to go out a live life. Really live it.
I better understand now that you can't just live your life with a brutal recklessness like Tessa did, though. Not when you have a whole life to live.
I can't remember the exact words, but one thing a certain character of the same age as her said really struck me.
'It's just so unfair. How come I get to have a whole life ahead of me? Why?'

I recommend this book to anyone and everyone. It will make you feel dismal. Ungrateful. Frustrated, and unsure about the justice that is meant to be in this world.
But it made me feel so lucky. So immensely, insanely lucky. I am healthy. I am alive.
And cancer hasn't permeated any part of my life except through stories.
It has helped me grasp the concept of taking things for granted.
I say 'helped' because I don't think we can truly understand how lucky we are.