Rachel Braccini
4/25/10
English
Indelible Moment: A moment in time that I would describe as an indelible moment would be the day I saw my Aunt Stacy skydive. I knew what skydiving was, but the way she seemed to float down from the sky, with the parachute keeping her from us, from the ground, yet at the same time delivering her back slowly and safely, captivated me. It seemed like she could fly, like an angel with a parachute instead of wings. The sun was at her back, and she originally looked like a little blot on the sun. She didn’t appear to be moving very fast at all, but since that day, I learned she was speeding rapidly back toward earth. My parents had always told me “Don’t look directly into the sun, you’ll go blind.” Well how could I not have looked right at the sun? After this whole magical ordeal, once my beautiful aunt was back on the ground and detached from her gear, my father asked a very important question. “Alright guys, now who wants to go get ice cream?!” My sister and I, jumping for joy, piled back into the car. Everyone was smiling, and we all wanted to know what it was like. How did it feel to fall from the sky? Aunt Stacy recounted the whole thing, telling us about how nerveracking it was, how scary yet how thrilling an experience it was. That day, and the image of my aunt falling from the sky with the sun as her backdrop, will stay in my memory forever.
Central Act: At least once a week, my family can find me in the kitchen after dinner. I’m not cleaning up, or helping out with dishes, I’m most likely adding to the mess. An act that is as crucial to my existence as breathing, is baking. I usually bake cupcakes in ice cream cones, ginger bread, oatmeal cookies, or chocolate chip cookies. Baking these treats helps me slow down and focus on something that, when it’s done, will make me very happy. On occasion my mother will ask “Why don’t you help out with some dishes before you start making the pile grow?” But this is really a rhetorical question, since she knows I don’t do dishes, never have, never will. I reply “Oh but mother, that’s what you’re here for ” And she continues the dishwashing as I continue the baking. It’s quite the routine. Sometimes my little brother helps out, or at least tries to, but at age four, his baking skills are a little underdeveloped. “How come you never let me stir or do anything? I just stand here, that’s not really helping.” He asks. “You are helping, just you standing there is being excellent help.” I reply, and that’s usually enough to keep him quiet and content, as long as he gets to taste the batter before it’s all gone.
Crucial Thing: A crucial item of mine would have to be my now sixtyplus hooded sweatshirts. I have a hoodie for almost every outfit, and buy at least three a month. What follows is a conversation between my boyfriend and I, immediately after he buys me a new hoodie, and I take it home and place it in the correct color section of my closet. “Why do you need so many hoodies? Just buy a black one, it’ll go with everything.” Mike says. “Are you kidding me? Black really doesn’t go with everything. It doesn’t really go with brown. Plus I have three black hoodies. And anyway, I need to have variety in my life. And hoodies make me happy. The more hoodies I have, the happier I am.” “Ok but there has to be something less expensive that could make you happy.” “You’d think so, but that’s really not the case. I mean sure there are other things that make me happy, one of them being you, but nothing puts a smile on my face like purchasing a brand new hoodie.” “Thanks kid. But really, you’re ridiculous.” “I’m quite aware. But you buy me hoodies too, you’re partly to blame for some of this.” “Never again will I spend fifty bucks on a hoodie, especially if it’s for you.” “Alright. If you say so.”