my family is bomb
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.
steven said,
September 19, 2008 @ 7:15 pm
You need to indent on some of your stories… : )
Mr. Reed said,
September 25, 2008 @ 10:15 am
How sad about your great great grandmother’s brother. He’s one of the few to make a fortune on the Gold Rush, but then dies young. So many dreamers never made it. How tragic that he’d die young, and then his brother would gamble away the money. How sad.
I have never experienced a “cotillion,” but it sounds like a special celebration. Are you looking forward to yours? I’m curious where that custom comes from. It sort of reminds me of the Jewish Bath-Mitzvah (the coming-of-age celebration in Jewish culture).
I like how you mix the history and the present memories together. However, by organizing it that way, you lose focus. You may want to zoom in one part and provide more detail (for example, write a memory with Grandpa and include his actual jokes …). Daylan, I also noticed that you posted this piece without editing it. Please edit BEFORE posting (spelling, punctuation, complete sentences). You can still revise this in the “MANAGE Posts” section.