December 20th, 2008

Dear Friend

Have I ever told you how beautiful nature is? It would be impossible to describe, but I’ll try. When I look at the trees and flowers outside my window I see happiness and joy. When I walk home from school and leaves are falling all around me I feel like I can fly. Nature is quiet and serene; it’s peaceful, but full of dreams and hopes. When I look at the mountains and smell the fresh air I just want to freeze that moment of tranquility. It’s very lovely and delightful. Nature is not only peaceful, but it’s also nice to look at. I feel very safe looking at something so divine. When I feel sad I usually go outside, take a long walk and look at the flowers and trees all around me. Nature is heavenly. It cannot hurt, it’s there for everyone.

Talking about nature reminds me that I have never told you about my dreams and hopes and my “glory days.” Actually, I have not lived my “glory days” yet and I don’t know if I ever will. Right now I am just living in the moment and not thinking about the “glory days” to come. But I do know for sure that I have not lived my glory days. I haven’t really done anything spontaneous, I haven’t traveled anywhere, and I don’t play sports or any musical instruments. I don’t have many hobbies and there are not many things that I can do well or I am good at. There is really nothing special about me, there is nothing glorious in my life. But I hope that someday I will do something worthy enough to call that my “glory days”. When I get older I hope to achieve something, not something amazing and not something remarkable, but just something. Something that will not only make me feel proud, but something that can benefit many people. I imagine it would be amazing and wonderful to feel like I have accomplished something in my life. To tell you the truth I am really looking forward to my future “glory days”.

Holiday season is upon us, which means more time to spend with family. I like being with my family, but we don’t spend much time with each other, except on holidays. That is one of the reasons I love holidays, because I love spending time with my family. My bother always says that he hates spending time with our family, but I know he doesn’t mean it. I can’t believe that every time our family goes shopping for holiday food and presents they always say that they don’t want to go, like they have something better to do. But at the end of the day we all end up having fun. When we all leave to shop for holiday accessories, we usually take my dad’s car, because it’s bigger. And every time our mom takes these little pieces of mint candy and hands them to everyone while we ride to the store. We arrive at the store together, but once we enter the store and all go our separate ways. Dad goes straight to the home appliances and tools department, mom heads off to the men’s and women’s clothes department, and my brother walks to the games and entertainment department. And I don’t go anywhere, because I don’t have a department. I just like to observe, I like to look around the store and see happy people with their families and then look at my family. When everyone is done shopping we all take a ride to the park and hang out there for a couple of hours. Our mom buys everyone hot cocoa and we sit on the benches under trees filled with snow. I love holidays and being with my family. I hope your family has some traditions as well. Happy Holidays!

Love always, Rachel