Essay About Family: A Portrait of a Sister :: Personal Narrative essay about my family

A Portrait of a Sister Sitting at my desk, trying to organize all my server sales reports from work, photo-copied papers, coupons, gift-certificates and important receipts, I start laughing to myself at how much I am like my sister. The sound of her soft voice echoes through my mind, â€Å" Lee, photo-copy all these documents, and don’t forget to keep your receipts.† That is my sister’s fetish; anything important must be photocopied, unless a sin. It’s those little things she says and does that I have always teased her about that I find myself doing now. I glance up looking on my desk for the FAFSA document, and the picture of my sister and me driving the cardboard school bus catches my eye. January 1988 Sitting in my living room, my grandma and mom were taking down the Christmas decorations, and putting them in cardboard boxes. My sister always had my grandma’s creativity, which they both passed on to me. My sister turned to me and said, â€Å" I have a fun project for us, Lee.† Rolling my eyes and looking back over my shoulder, to my sister, I said, â€Å"Oh, no way. Last time you had a fun project I ended up having my hands tied behind my back.† She informed me that it would be really fun, she swore. The whole week we secretly stashed cardboard boxes in the closet in our room, and then we cut out all different shapes. The shapes together were going to make up a school bus. Since my mom is a schoolteacher we stole her paint, and later that week we painted the cardboard yellow. Two weeks later, we presented our project to my mom and grandma at dinner. We were so proud of ourselves. Looking back now, I remember that the school bus was our favorite toy for that week. I also remember that the following week my sister had a new â€Å"project†. May 1996 My first week of JV Kickline tryouts. I come home and say, â€Å"We have a mission on our hands.† I tell her it is now time to make me the next member of the Bethpage JV Kickline team. During that whole week of tryouts, I am practically in house arrest. I think this is when my sister really teaches me that no one is perfect and she shows me how to use my strongest strength.

An Attempted Robbery

One evening when the sun was about to set, my mother asked me to go and buy some onions and salt from the nearby sundry shop. The shop is run by Samy, a jovial middle-age Indian man with a huge pot-belly. His wife and two young children, a boy and a girl, help him run the shop. It was almost completely dark when I reached the shop. Samy had switched on the lights in his small but adequately stocked shop. He was alone at the time and I was the only customer. Samy greeted me with a huge smile. I always wanted to ask him how he kept his teeth so sparkling white but I was afraid to ask. Anyway I told him what I wanted to buy and he went about getting the things for me. Next door to Samy’s shop is a coffee shop run by another Indian man. It was still open at the time. From the coffee shop emerged two men. They came into Samy’s shop and I could smell the overpowering smell of beer coming from these two men. Both of them were young but from the way they half-walked half-staggered into the shop it was obvious they had a bit too much to drink. I kept a safe distance from these men. It is never a good idea to be near drunks. One never knows what they will do next. True enough, my caution was justified, for the next moment, without any warning, one of the men swept a pile of tinned goods from a table onto the floor. In a second the neat rows were reduced to utter chaos. The man who did it roared out in laughter. I could see Samy’s anger rising. He raised his voice. As if in reply to his retort, the two men started shouting obscenities at him. Then suddenly a knife appeared in one of the men’s hand. The man that held the knife was small and wiry and judging from the muscles in his hand I had no doubt he was very strong. The knife-man lunged and in a flash he had the point of his knife at Samy’s throat. Samy froze and his face paled. I was so overwhelmed by the suddenness of events that the next thing I knew I could not move my hands, nor the other parts of my body. I was held in a vice-like grip by the other man. I did not even see him coming. I struggled but all I could do was to make the grip tighten more. I got difficult to breathe. I heard a lot of shouting and I could see the knife-man slapping Samy. Reluctantly Samy opened the drawer where he kept his cash and the knife-man leaned over and made a grab for the cash. That was a big mistake he made. For a fleeting moment his knife was forgotten and in that short moment Samy seized his chance. Samy’s huge right hand came down hard over the back of the leaning man’s head. The force of the blow carried the man’s head right down hard onto the table. There was a sickening thud when face met table. The knife-man’s head rebounded like a rubber ball from the table and I could see blood all over his face. He was badly hurt. The knife dropped from lifeless hands on the floor. Moving with surprising speed, Samy grabbed a bottle of tomato ketchup from a shelf and broke it over the man’s head. Red tomato ketchup splattered all over the place. I could not distinguish how much of the red stuff on the man’s face was his own blood, or tomato ketchup. Slowly he sank to the floor and lay still. I struggled to get loose. I felt so easy. Then I realized that hands no longer held me. I turned around and saw the dark figure of a man running out of the shop and disappearing into the semi-darkness. I was about to go in pursuit but Samy stopped me. He said it was useless pursuing somebody in the dark. Moreover the man could be armed and that would be dangerous. Ten minutes later the shop was filled with curious people all wanting to know what had happened. The knife-man was herded into a police car. Samy and I had to give our statements to the police. When I arrived home half an hour later, my mother was waiting impatiently for me. She was about to lecture me about being so slow in getting a few things but she stopped and listened dumbfounded while I related the recent events to her. When I finished she smiled and said that she was glad I was not injured.

George, Lennie, and Candy In Of Mice and Men - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 598 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2019/05/31 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: Of Mice And Men Essay Did you like this example? We all have that burden desire to get what we want. As we go from time to time our perception differs. The American Dream is what we all want. What we all hope for. George, Lennie, and Candyrs dream all differed, but were also similar in different ways. George, Lennie, and Candy put everything they have got into finding a home for themselves. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck establishes the American Dream through George, Lennie, and Candy. George developed Candy and Lenniers dream by going off of his. George started the dream for them and he wanted to be his own boss and have money. This was his way of being by himself and he wanted to be the one in charge. well have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and chickens (pg.14). This quote shows that George wants to be a boss. He seems to not mind being in change. He likes the fact that Lennie keeps adding onto his dream. The other men make Georgers dream seem even more realistic.My next quote that I found was The hell with the rabbits. Thats all you can ever remember is them rabbits. (pg. 18-19). I think this shows that Georgers dream is different from others and that he doesnt care about the bunnies and other animals. He cares about being his boss and the house. George just wanted his life and wanted to be in control. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "George, Lennie, and Candy In Of Mice and Men" essay for you Create order Lennie was a big guy. He was warmed on the inside even if he didnt seem like it. Lennie wanted to tend the rabbits, but most of all he wants hope and comfort in all this. An live on the fatta lan (pg. 105). This was a quote that I found that I feel supported Lenniers character. This shows that Lennie has hope. He wants the farm. His childlike mind plays a role on what he wants. My last quote was No you tell it. It aint the same if I tell it. Go on George. How I get to tend the rabbits.(pg. 119-123). This shows that Lennie only really cares about tending the rabbits and all he does is want to make George happy. He likes the idea of the dream, and he wants the soft things to make him happy. Candy was the last to be added to the dream. Candyrs dream deferred. He wanted the place to talk to people. A quote that I had found was spose I went in with you guys. Thats 300 and 50 bucks Id put in. (pg.59). This shows that Candy was willing to do anything to talk to people and be a part of this dream that they had come up with. Another quote I found was Lennie watched him with wide eyes, and old Candy watched him too. (pg. 202-203). This shows how bad Candy wanted the place. He wants to not be alone anymore, and he wants to help and have some people to talk to. Candy was a good guy and wanted to be a part of something special. In the story the perception of the American Dream differs throughout each character. They go through hardships and different points in their life where they feel like they could have done something differently. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck establishes the American Dream through George, Lennie, and Candy. It is clear that the American Dream differs from each person. In this story George, Lennie, and Candyrs dream were different. Even thought, each person, and each contribution affected The American Dream that they had built.