Winter Narrative

Shannon Rieke

Mrs. Boresen

Expository Writing, P-6

Winter Break Narrative

1-12-09

Everyone can relate to how Christmas break flies by. We all try to cram in as much sleep, TV, and fun as we can. Yet sometimes the best way we can spend our time over break is with our families. My family is particularly dedicated to those slightly odd traditions most families have. Most of our favorite traditions are focused on Christmas eve, and most years are a variation of a similar routine. This Christmas was as fun as any other I've enjoyed with my family.

As we do every year, my mom, dad, brother, and I went to my Grandma's house. Because of conflicting opinions over the right time to open presents, we take at least half of the presents under our Christmas tree to my Grandma's with us. Common sense would lead you to think that after 16 years of practice hauling gifts, food, and people from one house to another, my family would be pretty good at this task. Sadly enough, though, we're not. We packed presents as efficiently as possible into the car, and hoped that nothing was breakable. Food was wrapped in foil, plastic bags, and towels in an attempt to prevent the inevitable spill. Once we'd all made it in the car, everyone but the driver held a cake or a casserole. After the 30 minute drive, we pulled into my Grandma's driveway and started unloading.

Inside the house there was Christmas music playing, decorations were carefully placed, and the smell of food came from the kitchen. Most people would expect ham or turkey for Christmas, but the center of our meal was clam chowder and oyster stew. It seems that there was once a reason behind this unique feast, but there isn't a reason now, other than that it's just another tradition. We added the food we'd brought to the mass of dishes, and found a place to set the presents where we could eye them throughout the evening. A couple of friends joined us and we all helped to squeeze chairs around the table.

At this point we were waiting for my aunt and uncle, Debbie and Vi, who should have flown in from Florida that morning, but had had several delays. By the time the soups were ready we were all ready to eat. We laughed and talked over our excellently cooked meals. Every now and then someone would glance at the clock and we would wonder where Vi and Debbie were.

We were all surprised when the door bell rang and there they were. They had taken a shuttle so that no one had had to go pick them up. Vi and Debbie dished more food, and after we'd enjoyed our deserts, we focused our attention on the stack of presents in the corner. We enthusiastically tore into the wrapping paper, thanking the givers as we went. As soon as the last gift was revealed, my grandma was cleaning the table and piling up dishes. Several protests of, “sit down, don't worry about that yet,” were voiced, but we all joined her to help with the clean up.

Once the dishes were done, we were winding down. My brother wandered to the TV room where we found him half asleep on the couch. The rest of us were slumped in a chair or on the floor. We finished up our conversations and began to gather our treasures. We woke my brother up enough for him to say goodnight, make it to the car, and go back to sleep. My mom, dad and I followed him and we made the drive home.

Back at our house we brought in as little as we had to and persuaded my brother that he couldn't sleep in the car. We made it upstairs and were asleep pretty fast. But as tired as we all were, it had been a nice day. We all enjoyed the unique traditions and the time with each other. It wasn't big or exciting, but it was a memory that we'll all keep; at least until next year.

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