Eight years ago is when I wrote a paper that not only meant a lot to me but also meant a lot to my dad. Father’s day there was a contest in the local newspaper. To enter the contest you had to write a two hundred-word essay about what your father meant to you. If you won the contest you got your essay put in the front page of the newspaper on fathers day along with a picture and an article written about you.
I was ten years old at the time so I thought that it would be really cool to be on the front page of the newspaper. My mom told me that it would be a good idea if I entered too. Later that day my mom told me that I should get started. She told me to sit down and write out a list of things about my dad. I started the list by saying how he has ten kids and is always there for every one of us when we need him.
He has a full time job that he works very hard at. He still manages to have time to be our soccer and basketball coach. Every morning he got up at a quarter till five to drive my brother around for his paper route. At dinner every night he would ask us if we had homework or any test to study for and if we needed help with any of it. I mentioned how he is very involved with his community and also his church.
Every Sunday we would go to church and he is an usher there and after he would greet people he wouldn’t sit with the rest of the ushers he would come find us and sat with his family. I talked about what an amazing father he was but not only that but also a great husband, brother, and son. My mom came back in the room and asked if I had enough ideas and if I was ready to get started and put it all together. We got the two hundred-word essays together and ran up to the corner to put it in the mailbox to send it to the Akron Beacon Journal.
The Essay on “A Visit to Grandmother” and “My Father Sits in the Dark”
Family is group of persons closely related by blood. As children, parents raise and teach values and many important lessons of life to innocent youngsters. As adults, each individual still calls his or her family members when the individual had a bad day or needs someone to talk to. However, despite how close a family is, family members still encounter problems communicating with each other. For ...
A little less then a week later I received a phone call from a man who works for the beacon journal. He told me that he had received my essay, found it very touching and said that I had won the contest. He was sending someone out to take my families picture and me and to do an interview. I was so excited my dad didn’t know I entered the contest so when I ran and told him he was so shocked.
My mom was so happy for me too; she told me congratulations and gave me a big hug. The next day was crazy everyone in the house was running around trying to get ready so the beacon journal man could come and take our picture. When he arrived he was very impressed with our family he couldn’t believe how many there was of us. He told my dad that no wonder he won the contest, handling this many kids there had to be something special about him.
My dad smiled and said he couldn’t do it with out my mom. We got the picture taken and the gentleman asked me some more questions about my dad he wrote down a few things and then went on his way. The next morning was Sunday, Fathers Day. Right there on the front of the beacon journal was a picture of my family and a heading that read “Glad To Have Dad.” The article was very good and talked about what a great person my dad was how funny and nice he is.
When my dad read it for the first time he started to choke up a bit. I never see my dad get emotional but this article touched him. He knew that we thought the world of him and that he meant so much to us but to actually read about it made him so happy. When my family and I went to church that morning everyone came up to my dad and I to comment on the article they saw in the paper.
Even the priest mentioned something to the entire parish in the middle of mass he said that my dads famous now. My dad started to laugh; I think he was a little embarrassed. My dad said that this was the best gift he could ever get for fathers day. A week later a guy that works with my dad had cut out the article and matted it into a huge frame to give to my dad. We have it hanging up in our family room to this day. When people come over they still read the article and say how good it was.
The Essay on Dad Mom Family Things
The contemporary American family is one that shows a picture perfect lifestyle of happiness and normalcy, but this normalcy can be challenged by anything. The present war our country is engaged in is one factor that has changed the lives of many families since it began. Husbands, sons, and sometimes even mothers and daughters are leaving their homes to fight in the war with Iraq. If the ...
Once in a while I can catch my dad reading the article.
