My Favorite Holiday Memory Assignment

Writing Process

Prewriting:

Topic: cousins house

Audience: Family

Purpose: Remember – share the memory

Topic Sentence:

Every year during the holidays, our family traveled to visit our Samuelson cousins

Message:

The joy of family fun and favorite foods still keeps us together. Our family, though apart, still seeks togetherness.

Ideas                  Details

Hide n seek         hiding in the closet, racing to the base, little Debbie giggling

Food                       peanut butter fudge, pumpkin pie, eggnog, turkey, cranberry sauce

Idea Nouns              Strong Verbs

Rueben                   hide in closet

Debbie                  giggles under the desk

Gary                  sneaks to find us

Bill                       never finds the right hiding spot

Eggnog                   slurped

Pie                       gobbled, sneaked

Turkey                  chomped

Cranberry              filled tummy

Fudge                  sneaked, savored, melted in my mouth like silk

Finishing/Revising ideas

Beginning:  a story about playing hide ‘n’ seek

Ending/Message:   Even though we are far apart, the hidden joy of past togetherness drives us to keep in touch.

Catchy Title:  Hide ‘n’ Seek

Hide ‘n’ Seek

“Quick – into the closet!”

“Shhhhh!”

“You’re stepping on my foot.”

“Sh! Sh!”

Rueben and I shivered in anticipation, waiting in the back of cousin Dona’s closet, waiting for Gary to sneak in to find us.  Would he hear Debbie giggling under the desk?

“I spy Debbie!” he called and raced to base, the wall post beside the bathroom door, with little Debbie clamoring behind, trying to beat him there.

We knew Bill had scampered into Aunt Vera’s room, still trying to find a hiding place.  We listened carefully, and heard Auntie’s door open with its familiar squeak.  Quickly, we popped out of the closet and zipped to base, calling out, “Free!” We won in Hide ‘n’ Seek again.

Every year during the holidays, our family traveled to visit our Samuelson cousins. Uncle Rueben and Aunt Vera raised six children, but Butch, Lyle, and Dona were already teen-agers and no longer participated in the fun and games of the younger kids: Rueben, Gary, and Debbie.  My brother Bill and I anxiously counted the days to the visit. Our favorite game, Hide ‘n’ Seek, always entertained us for hours. Of course, we enjoyed chomping into the delicious, moist turkey and slipping a spoonful of cranberry sauce with each turkey bite.  Dessert of pumpkin pie with whipped cream filled our tummies.  We slurped our eggnog whenever Aunt Vera cooked up a fresh batch. Can you smell the nutmeg? Mmmmm. Our favorite treat, though, hid back on the counter behind the toaster.  We’d sneak down the stairs between our games, reach up behind the toaster, and grab a piece of Aunt Vera’s best peanut butter fudge.  As it melted like silk in our mouths, we sauntered by the adults playing pinochle, nodding a hello.  Aunt Vera just smiled, then scolded to tease, “And don’t get into that fudge!”

These memories fill my mind like warm cocoa at holiday times.  We cousins grew up and drifted to all parts of the United States. Both Uncle Rueben and Aunt Vera have passed on, but the joy they spread by allowing us to run and play, hide and seek, sneak and smile lives on in our own children. We learned that joy is the gift of togetherness. That lesson is not hidden because we continue to seek our new memories and share them. The cousins email, share pictures of grandkids and new cousins, and keep the traditions of kids playing Hide ‘n’ Seek, sneaking peanut butter fudge, and sharing holiday laughter. To seek and find the spirit of the holiday season, I will wrap up my memories in an email or letter, and send them as a gift to my far away families.  Have you thought of gift of memory you could send to your distant families?