Well, I got my first essay grade back. I got a 'B'. No, it isn't bad. BUT... I had hoped for better. I had a few problems. One was my MLA format, which I thought that I had correct. I will have to ask for clarification on that. Problem number two was a bit of a lack of focus. The biggest problem was problem three. And I almost have to laugh at this.
I swear, some days I feel thought challenged, like nothing makes sense. Perhaps it is because of how much I am juggling, or maybe just a blonde moment. In any case, I pulled a good one. Somehow, when I read the directions, I read that we had to pick a moment, and that the entire time limit spent writing the essay should be between a half hour and an hour. The real directions were to pick one moment that happened in a matter of a half hour to an hour. OH!!! Yeah, that's a little different. It's times like these that I wonder what the heck was I thinking???
Worse than that, after I turned in my final paper, I thought of the PERFECT moment. Had I gone with this moment instead, I would have avoided several problems. I agonized for days between my mother's cancer diagnosis, my father's heart attack, or when my daughter first encountered a dolphin. My husband and I thought about the trip with the dolphin, but neither of us could remember enough details. What I should have written about happened during that same trip! That week was the week of my daughter Emily's Make A Wish trip. That week we stayed at Give Kids the World village. While there were many special moments, when we saw Emily's star up on the ceiling for the first time, it took my breath away and made all of us feel so emotional. The whole idea of this just makes you think. While my child has a life threatening disease, while her medications are dangerous and put her at risk, she is not terminal. There are many children that visit the village that are terminal. Each sick child places a star, and it stays there. Forever. The families are always allowed to come visit- especially those who have a fallen angel; they are allowed to go back to visit the star. Just thinking about this still makes me cry! Seeing all of those stars up there on that ceiling makes you question how many of those sick children are still here, and it makes you stop and think. This was a beautiful, touching, special, emotional moment for our family. I will remember this for the next essay based on one moment. Perhaps I will write more about it later. It's a hard topic to write about.
