Abnormal Christmas

Honorable Mention, children's essays

Debbie Jarzemba |

12/19/2008 - 12/19/08

I always go to Ohio for Christmas to visit my family. One year, it was supposed to be a happy Christmas, but it wasn't.

We go to visit my dad's sister. We only see our family once a year.

My aunt Kathy had been diagnosed with cancer when she was young. They had cured her cancer. Then, when she got older, her cancer came back. She died on the 18th of December, just before Christmas. We stayed until after Christmas.

It just wasn't the same without my aunt Kathy. She had been like a mother to my dad. When we were at her funeral, my cousin Rosanna cried the whole time for her mom. Rosanna was only 16 at the time. All my cousin's friends were there to support her.

My aunt was very special to me because her birthday is on the 16th of January and mine is on the 15th of January. My aunt was a sweet and pretty young person. She was only 48 when she died. She never got to see Rosanna graduate from high school or see any of her children get married. I had brought her a candle for Christmas but she had already passed away. I hadn't seen my aunt or cousins in a year. I wish I could have seen her once before she died.

We sadly opened our presents on Christmas. The next day we went to go put flowers on her grave. We were all very sad, but we knew she had been in pain and that she was in a happier place.

When we got back to my cousin's house, we got a call from Tony Romo, a Dallas Cowboy. He had heard that my aunt had died. He gave us free tickets for a year. He said he felt sad when his uncle died. We thanked him for the tickets and said, "Good-bye."

My cousins and I love the Dallas Cowboys and were very excited. The next day we went to the game. We all wished our aunt could have been there. The first Christmas without my aunt turned out OK. You can't live forever, and she was a very daring protagonist.