A few of my favorite things.

My kids had to a writing prompt on their benchmark a few weeks ago. I spent last weekend grading them. Some of them were amazing and some of them I wasn't even sure they knew what a memory was. So when January comes around and we are back at school, and not finishing The Outsiders, we'll go over their writing and try to improve. I'm a big believer in leading by example though, so when I went to a writing workshop and we worked on OUR (the teachers) writing, I wrote my own personal narrative. So that when we work on improving their papers, I will be working on improving my paper as well. Here is my first draft of my favorite memory:

My feet, and my mom's, were sticking up, our toes in the air. We were floating on our backs in the clear, ocean water of Hawaii. My mom had her Chaco shoes on because she wanted to have tan lines from her shoes. It was most likely the only place someone would see evidence of her trip to Hawaii since she always made sure to have her sunscreen on. It seemed like there were people all over the beach and in the water. But we ignored them. Instead we just floated, spending our time and telling stories. I had to stop her though to focus on my dad, who was not that far away from us standing in the water. As we watch him, it seems like he is searching the clear water for something. I pause, " He can't be looking for..." I trail off and we both instantly know what he is searching for.

Three days earlier, my family and I were at the same beach in Hawaii. Same bright water, hot sand and just as many people around. My dad and I had been tossed around in a particularly scary momen in the waves. When we both returned to the surface, tired and confused, my dad realized he had lost his sunglasses. He looked around but there was nothing in the water. We left the beach shaken and my dad was feeling bummed about his sunglasses. On our way back to our condo, in a foreign beach town, my dad spotted a Sunglass Hut. To him it was like the shining beacon of hope. He stopped the car and seconds later returned with an exact replica of his old sunglasses. Finally, all seemed right with the world.

Now, three days later, my mom and I could not stop laughing. Amused by the idea of what he was searching for, and we were still hoping we were wrong. That instead he was looking at the bright colored fish or something odd in the sand. When my dad made his way towards us he only confirmed that he had in face been looking for his sunglasses. Because as he said it, in his own words, "Dead bodies wash up on shore. i though maybe sunglasses would too."

What really stands out to me about this short, ordinary moment is how happy I was. I was at the point in my life when everything was about to change. family vacations were ending, I would be spending more time on own, soon the three of us would be separated. And most importantly I would be changing. I was going off to college ready to see and learn new things, meet new people and begin a brand new part of my life. But no matter who I became or what happened to all of us, I would always have this moment to hold onto. A time where my family was all together and so happy to laugh over the smallest things.

No matter where I am, who I am with or what season I'm in, I will always be able to picture my mom and my feet sticking up through the clear, bright water, laughing at my dad searching for those lost sunglasses.