daylan yay:]

 

  I walk into my room and look around, it’s pink walls make me grin. I always laugh after looking at the millions of posters that fill up my walls. The posters are covered with the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus and more teen heartthrobs, but on one side of my room fills like a different side of me. I have pictures of guys skating and tons of bands from a magazine that I took from my brother. I love looking outside of my high ceiling windows, to see the beautiful outside. This would be the most relaxing part. My street is dead and peaceful, it seemed as though a buzzing fly could wake my neighborhood up. An ice cream stuck rolls by, but no kids come out to scream. A police car  zooms by and breaks the silence, I walk away from the window. I look around  and think about how different and unique this room is from all the others in the house. I was have to share a room with my 17 year old cousin Kayla, but i still call this room my own.

  When I’m frustrated, this is one place I can run to to take all of my anger out on. My comfortable bed calms me and puts me fast asleep. My rug warms my cold feet as I climb into a great slumber.  I fill free as a bird in my room. I can say what I want without someone yelling at me. I can do what I want when I want, and it fills great. I don’t have to get dressed or do my hair when I’m in this place, when I’m in this zone. I fill so welcome, and I don’t have to worry about what people think. This sacred place of mine makes me fill like I can do everything.

  My family has tons of Uncles, Aunts, Cousins, Sisters, Grandparents and more but each of us has our own story like how we met and how we parted. How we gained new traditions and how we lost them. There may be different sides to all these crazy stories but hopefully I have been told the truth.

 

  One of the oldest family legends is of my great-great grandmothers brother Shepherd made a legendary trip to the Gold Rush. He left Pittsburgh, PA taking a boat to Ohio to the Mississippi River down to New Orleans. At that point, he takes a Clipper Ship to Panama and decides to walk across Panama. On the pacific side he takes another Clipper Ship to San Fransisco and makes he’s way to California. He is successful in his efforts at gold mining and returns to Pittsburgh as a wealthy man. However, his life is cut short and dies at a early age. His brother inherits his money and loosed it through excessive drinking and foolishness.

 

  A weird thing about my family would be how they all met. Most met at bars, parties and even through a picture in the newspaper. My grandfather would the famous one for parting with his wife’s but getting new ones.

 

  My grandpa is the most funniest character in my family, he’s so honest and loud, and never acts his age. When my grandpa was young he was very handsome and wealthy so you would assume he would get all the ladies, he even still does. I watched one of my grandpa’s wedding video and couldn’t;t stop laughing. He made jokes the whole time and even laugh hysterically as his wedding was taking place. There would be too much to write if I wanted to share all the memories.

 

  Since my family has two sides, my fathers and my mothers we have many special occasions. On my fathers side we have cotillions, which is a coming out party for senior high school girls. At this special occasion each girl is introduced listing her high school accomplishments and prospective collage education. They have special dances and wear beautiful gowns. On my mothers side of the family we don’t have big huge important occasions. A simple wedding or thanksgiving is important to us as long as our family is together.

 

  Since i have been born i have always not celebrated my birthday not on actual date. I have opened gifts and eaten cake on July 3rd my “usual” birthday, but I have had parties and get together a week and sometimes even a month after. Christmas and Thanksgiving are big times for my family. We always have huge parties at my aunts house, with loads of food,presents, and fun.

 

  My mom works, pays bills and takes care of me. Since she is a single mother she has to also play the father role for me. I don’t really have household responsibilities, but my biggest role is getting good grades. My mom has taught me to be independent, work hard for what I want and to always have school come first.

 

  Through bad times and good times I know that I will always have my family.

  There are many items that have been passed down, from generation to generation on my dads side of the family. My Uncle Hugh and Aunt Crystal have all of these family heirlooms, but will be passed down to me.

 

  One very treasured item, that has no value but is priceless to my family, is a World War 1 framed poster given to my great grandfather for his service in the 351 St. Heavy Field Artillery. My great-grandfather William Shepard Rickmond joined the service February 28th 1918, in Pittsburgh, PA. The framed poster has a beautiful photograph of a American flag, bald eagle and even has a small war scene. There also is a photograph of my great-grandfather and a quoted signature from President Woodrow Wilson.

 

  Not only does my family have treasured items, we also have artifacts that have been past down. There’s money orders from 1852, stock bonds from 1867, and even love letters exchanged between my great-grandparents. My family has an “Over There” flag from World War 1 with two stars on it. The stars represented how many family members were fighting for our country.

 

  Holding a treasured item gives you memories and great thoughts about your family.  I think about what my family went through during these times and if my family didn’t have any of these items we wouldn’t know the history of our family. We wouldn’t know who our great-grandparents and we wouldn’t know what our family did or who we even were 100 years ago.