Twas The Week After Thanksgiving Essay

Everyone has a favorite holiday. There is Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, the Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and then there is everyone’s favorite- Christmas! Christmas comes with the feeling of warmth, of family, and of home. What happens, though, if all one ever knew during Christmas time was completely changed? What happens if home just is not home anymore? Sandra M. Castillo addresses that situation that actually occurred in her own life in her poem, “Christmas, 1970.” Castillo moved from Cuba to the United States in 1970 and as an eight-year old she reveals her true feelings during and about the Christmas season. Throughout the poem, she reveals a theme of what home means to her, written in her point of view as she sits under her aunt’s Christmas tree at her aunt’s apartment. Castillo uses devices like symbolism, imagery, and flashback to support her them that no one can return to their childhood home.

Summary: This is a picture book showing how one family celebrates Thanksgiving in Canada. The book follows Irene, her older brother Richard, and her parents as they travel to visit Irene’s grandparents for their Thanksgiving, which is celebrated on the 2nd Monday of October. The song at the end of the book was nice and would be better set to music.

The crisp, cool, and cinnamon air filled the morning of Thanksgiving in 1987. Although I was only two years and eleven months old, I remember the scratchy, fuzzy, purple- footed pajamas that I was wearing that morning. After I woke up, I "helped" my mom make her famous orange- cranberry relish, got dressed in my cream sweater dotted with cherries and my navy pleated skirt, topped off with my favorite cream fuzz- warn tights, and before I knew it we were out the door to my grandmother's house. After an early dinner with my grandparents, mom, and dad, my grandfather and dad left to catch the Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving Day football game, leaving the rest of us to find entertainment of our own.

Thanksgiving is a day family and friends have a traditional meal including turkey. Thanksgiving is always held on the fourth Thursday of November every year. It’s a very special holiday when everybody comes together as a family to cook, enjoy, and bless the food, but also to enjoy each other. In 2015, I had a special Thanksgiving Day dinner that left me full of joy.

The early morning air is cool on my skin, but the bright sunshine promises heat by ten am. The sprinklers on the neighbor’s lawn go off, signaling that it is seven o’clock and we need to get moving. I smile as I open the car because today is the last day before winter break, and tomorrow will be baking day. I quickly set the large bag of presents in the trunk of my father’s car, and hurry back into the house to get the cookies and my backpack. Inside the door, I am greeted by a large and heavily decorated Christmas tree. On the mantle sit stocking hooks and a windmill cresh rotates on the coffee table surrounded by pinecones. Passing into the next room, one feels as if they have stepped onto another planet. The chandelier id still draped with

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season and is one, if not, the largest shopping “holiday” in the United States. Many view it as an integral part of the holiday season, but what they do not realize, it may actually be destroying it. With each new holiday season, sales encroach earlier into the hours of Thanksgiving, and extend for several days after. With this, Thanksgiving becomes nothing but a hurdle for receiving cheap prices, and the holiday season becomes less and less about family and the gratitude for what we already have, but about greed and buying more possessions we do not need.

It was the last day of school before Christmas break and Alison was dying to get home quickly. Every house on her block was glowing angelically with an over-abundance of lights and decorations.

As I woke up, I immediately hopped down from my top bunk bed and rushed to the bathroom to ensure that I had a hot shower. I breathed in the steam from the shower as it washed away all of the filth and red dirt I had attracted from the night before. “It is here”, I told myself. The only week of the year where all of my family and friends were living in the same place at once. The Neshoba County fair has always been a week-long family tradition where every family member lived under the same roof. Once I was downstairs, the Mississippi heat immediately sent sweat my neck but I quickly overlooked this due to the aroma from the food being cooked. My aunts were chattering amongst themselves reminding each other that the ham in the oven was

Christmas day at Ahme’s house was always my favorite day of the year. My family would gather at her house and the smell of freshly baked cookies would fill the air. I always loved checking out the basement. It was decorated perfectly and brewing in the fireplace, a warm fire. I peeked my head around the corner to look at all the presents surrounding the tree. I knew that everything I had circled in the toy magazines weeks before Christmas would appear under the paper of the beautifully wrapped presents. I always spent a fair amount of time taking in the decorations. The figurines in the Dickens Village houses danced round and round the christmas tree, and skated on the glass pond. I looked at them and wished I could shrink down and play with them. Her snow baby dolls all lined up on the

It was December fifteenth and the air was getting even more crisp and colder. I just knew this Christmas was going to be the best! I was becoming more and more excited for the twenty- fifth to come around. Everything was perfect; the season, weather, even mama’s cooking was on point this year. I felt nothing could ruin this Christmas.

A medium sized suburban home comes into view; a light snowfall blankets the world in a sheet of cotton as the sounds of Christmas music fill the air. The street is covered in brightly colored orbs of light strung carefully from every rooftop. Despite the busy season, the air feels light with Christmas cheer as despite the chilly weather there is a feeling of warmth through every home. The Christmas season had finally arrived, coming into view as quick as a flicker of the home 's hearth. No matter where you go you can feel the spirit of the holidays throughout every home, every meal, and every celebration. The holiday season fills each and every person with emotion, an emotion that is hard to describe but everyone who has experienced the holidays knows. Trying to capture this emotion is difficult, yet sometimes his emotion can truly be harnessed and celebrated.

When I came to this quote in the book, I instantly thought of Christmas when I was younger. Every year, we visit my grandparents that live in Blair on Christmas Day, but a few years ago, I was worried we wouldn't see them because of the massive amounts of snow that had just fallen the night before. My siblings and I all went crazy; we talked about how boring the day would be because we had no way of getting to Blair. My grandpa called my dad and told him that there was no way that most of his grandkids were going to miss out on Christmas. All of the kids were excited, but we all wondered how we were going to get there. After eating our breakfast, we looked outside to see our grandma’s car waiting for us in the driveway. Quickly, we all got

It was a brisk October night in Mystic Connecticut. The fading yellows, rusty oranges, and fiery reds of the leaves that were strewn about the roads supplied the only color and illumination that the cadaverous town had. Even the river that flowed through the village was dull in color- an ashen teal. The stodgy water churned and rippled, but it made no more sound than that of a petulant murmur. The town was abandoned every October as Halloween was approaching. Most people fled the village altogether, but a courageous few stayed behind. It was a scarce occurrence for one to set foot out of his or her house during this time of the year. There was never more than a single being outside by Halloween-time. It was so uncommon, that the stories of

The turkey and trimmings are now in the refrigerator awaiting their second coming. The chocolates and the brandy no longer in sight, waiting to reappear at our waist line. Our parents, in-laws, all the adult children and their children have returned home leaving us with many so fond memories but with an empty house. Where only a short time ago my house was truly a home, it now shelters only me. The now empty space shows still the remnants of love and companionship. The decorated tree is still standing, but is now barren of the decorated gifts beneath its green wings. The long table recently laden with nourishment, surrounded by conversation, laughter and reminisces of the year has bid final farewell sits empty now. My shoes are no longer crowded at the front door, I would wish it was still. Reality has returned, the joy of Christmas now appears as an artificial effect.

“Wake up, wake up! Come on, it’s Christmas!” My little sister Emily was jumping on me and shaking me roughly trying to get me out of bed. Monday morning, Christmas day. 7 a.m. is too early for anyone to wake up in my opinion, even on Christmas. “Sarah!” Emily whined as she yanked my blankets from off my bed. I crawled out of bed, tired as ever and feeling like a zombie, dragging my feet down the stairs to the Christmas tree. Rubbing my eyes, I slowly but surely became more awake as my eyes adjusted to the lights in the family room. Once everything was in focus and it didn’t feel like I was looking at the sun, I immediately noticed a tall present that couldn’t even fit under the tree. “Merry Christmas, sweetheart!” My mother joyfully exclaimed. My dad whipped out his camera right away to take a picture of his girls. I pulled my knotted hair back into a low ponytail and smiled for the picture, hoping that big present was mine. “Who’s present is that?” Emily asked, pointing at the one I was eyeing earlier. My mom told her that we’re going to open that last.