My Favorite Holiday

When we were growing up my mother made sure my siblings and I were always taken care of. She would sacrifice her own happiness for ours.

She and I had an especially close bond. Shortly before my dad’s accident, both her parents had died. I was the one who supported her through a very difficult year. As a result, she always treated me differently from the other kids—almost like an adult.

The blazing light was shining in my face and a slight breeze blew through the arched windows. I spotted an open chest in the attic, whilst spring cleaning. The outside rim of the box was covered in dust and cobbled webs; the hinge was rusty, making a creak noise against the ghost-quiet room. Rummaging my hand around the chest there was a scratchy-substance digging against my fingers. As the sun faded from my sight I lifted up the mysterious object. It was an old rustic book; I flipped through the delicate pages, every touch made a crinkling

stayed strong even through the times that were tough. And final she lived on to tell our

She has taught me so many moral values to life and has made me the man I am

Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for all of our rights and the things that we have. We are very thankful to come home every day to a nice home with food and water, some people don’t have the nice things that we have. The rights that I am thankful for as a citizen of this country are the freedom of religion and the freedom of speech.

Even after her brother had died he helped her find words and really opened her up to a whole new

The sky and all its beautiful colors are all that were running through my mind. I didn't notice it then, but that was the last day we ever had those moments not only there but back home too. I never expect for him to leave, which was foolish. He found happiness in the bottom of a drink, how couldn't alcohol take him? I realize we're all trying to kill that pain somehow. I didn't imagine his death would take a hold of my life, but in a way it did. You see he was the only close death, I experienced in my 17 years, before him I didn't think death would ever influence me, for it was just a life check everyone check off eventually. I took his death as unexplained for so long, all I had angry and unresolved feelings and they controlled a part of my life. I know that pain will always be there, but my life couldn’t stop, I couldn’t let this unresolved grief influence me as my uncles did. Although death is a sad thing, you have must choose whether to let it destroy oneself or sharpen it. I’m still on the path of understanding how life is after the death, still I remember he loved us and he isn’t sadden anymore, and that gives me joy and keeps on

A single beam of light shone thru the curtain. The specs of dust in the room danced between the rays, whisked into the air by the pleasant breeze tip toeing thru the screen door. I could feel the warmth on my cheek as I rose from the sheets, thoroughly rested. I briskly got ready, slipping on my tennis shoes, old and worn. Stepping outside, I was greeted by the painfully sweet aroma of sweet pea flowers, entranced by the blissful gleams of sunlight, and spellbound by the familiar screeching of parrots, flocking in clouds of bright vermilion.

She was not the most perfect person but her personality and the way she talked made everyone want to be like her. Anyone she talks to can hear her talk for hours. Growing up she did not have an easy life style. She struggled often but she always made the best out of everything. She cherished her life and all the little things that came with it. She always worked hard for everything she wanted and needed and I looked up to her because of that. I yearned for her life. Middle age women living in the big beautiful city of opportunity and working for the department of health in New York. That was everything I wanted.

I was confused on how to face my adversities without having someone to guide me along the way. If there were any ill intentions of the people around me, I would not have noticed. My heart turned cold and I disregarded the feelings of my friends and family. My friends were only there in hopes that they would be there to lift me up if I’d ever be to fall into a ditch. Chelsea was the one friend that gave me an understanding to what succeeding my goals in life would bring me. I felt genuine happiness in her company, in fact she taught me what genuine happiness meant. The ineffable effort I put in for myself to try and get over her passing away just seemed so effortless at the end of the day. I would try to get through a day without crying, and I would; but I felt as if everything I held in during the day would just fall apart in the night. I cried until there were no more tears to shed. When my bedroom lights would turn off it would feel darker than usual. I would stop myself from falling asleep at night because it would just be some time away from thinking of the memories we had spent together; and not spending a night thinking of the memories I had with her would just feel like a waste of a night. It was difficult for me to move on from thinking of her. The continuous thoughts of her made me feel imprisoned in the past, and barred from my

I could hear muted sobs as friends and family members began lashing out in tears. Yet, I stood still as ever as memories with my best friend began flashing in my head. I was best friends with a girl who lived right next door to me since birth. We told secrets and laughed with one another since the day I can recall my earliest memory as a child. It was unfortunate to see it all come to an end now that she was gone. All I saw was her lifeless body slowly turning pale on a stretcher stationed on her living room floor. This was one of those moments that makes you question how quickly life can take an unexpected turn. I wasn't willing to accept that

As soon as we finished the job, my uncle went and sat in the front

My mother loved me dearly, and she sang to me the song of her homeland every day. My father had died in the war when I was three so I don’t remember him much. My mother said he was strong, extremely dependable yet gentle and observant, he was a bit outspoken but he stood up for the weak and how he loved her cranberry apple cakes.

She understood perseverance and the importance of people and she carried on against all odds. The last time I spoke to her, she knew exactly who I was, despite