Natalie+Harrell

< Natalie Harrell Ms. O’Neil/ English 12/18/10 My Brother’s Graduation

“Mom, when is Daddy coming?” “I don’t know he’s on his way. He’ll be here in a few.” The whole day I was waiting for my dad, nana, papa and little sister to come to my house from New York. Today was a very, very important day. My brother was graduating. He’s been looking forward to this day for his whole life, and he’s never liked going to school. It’s always been boring to him. My dad got stuck in traffic, but I didn’t mind since my brother’s best friend, Paul, was on his way. Paul is like my big brother. He always comes to my house. When Paul got there, I yelled, “Paul! I missed you. How are you?” “Hey Nat, I missed you too, even though I saw you yesterday!” Paul exclaimed. “I know, but that’s a long time according to me! Hahaha!” I laughed. “Hahaha!” he laughed. “Let’s go inside.” When we went inside, we sat on the couch and waited for my dad to come. Ten minutes later, I saw his car pull up to our house. I was super excited, because I love when my dad comes to New Jersey. I ran outside and sprinted to give him a hug. When he got inside, I introduced him to Paul. My dad asked, “Where’s Matt?” “He’s getting ready,” I said. When we all sat down, we saw my brother coming out of his room wearing his graduation cap and gown. I looked over at my mom and saw she had a tear in her eye. She started to cry. Her baby boy was no longer a baby anymore. He was her first born and the only boy in our family. We all knew he wasn’t moving out anytime soon, but just the fact that he was a grown up made her upset. I then looked at my dad and he had a big smile on his face. “I can’t believe he’s actually out of high school,” my dad exclaimed. My brother didn’t look happy about graduating. “Why don’t you have a smile on your face, you’re graduating?” I asked. “I don’t feel like sitting in a sweaty gym for two hours doing nothing,” he exclaimed. “That sounds really boring,” I yawned him. “ You’re going to be doing the same thing,” he laughed. “No, I’m not!” I shouted. “Guys, stop fighting!” my mom screeched. “Now what are you two fighting about?” “He said I have to sit in the gym for two hours doing nothing,” I explained. “You are,” my mom said. “Ugh,” I moaned. “ Let’s go outside and take some pictures!” my mom said excitedly. “Let’s not,” my brother groaned. We all headed out the door. My brother took pictures with everyone, even Paul. He didn’t smile for any of them. “Matt, smile,” my mom smiled, “This is your graduation day.” “And I’m wearing a dress,” my brother replied. “Let’s hurry up before someone sees me out here.” “It’s not a dress, it’s a graduation gown, and everyone wears them,” my mom said. “This really is a special occasion, you don’t graduate everyday!” “I want to get a picture with Paul!” I yelled. “Hurry up, we have to go,” my mom yelled. I quickly jumped next to Paul and got the picture taken. After pictures, it was time to go eat. We were going to Applebee’s for dinner. I love that place, and I got to ride there in my brother’s truck. It’s sooo big, and it has huge tires! We all climbed in, and we were off! About ten minutes later we arrived at Applebee’s. “Party of ten,” my dad said. “Right this way,” the hostess said. We followed her to the back of the restaurant were there were two tables pushed together. I got to sit at the end. Paul sat on one side of me, and my little sister, Hayley, sat on the other. She wanted to sit by me, so she could play with my ipod. I even have her games on it. The lady came and took our order. The five “kids” all ordered chicken fingers. When all of our food came, we devoured it all. When we finished eating, we paid the bill, got back in the cars, and were on our way to the boring graduation. I thought graduating wasn’t such a big deal. I sure didn’t feel like sitting in the gym for that long just for my brother to graduate. All that happens is that you don’t have to go to school anymore, but that is pretty cool. When we got there, there were so many people. “Wow, there are a lot of people here for a graduation.” I thought. There was this one person that was as tall as a sky scraper, he had a big hat on with brown hair, and blue eyes. Then we hugged my brother and he went off with his friends. “Are you ready to go inside?” my mom asked. “Not really,” I moaned. “Well guess what?” she added. “What?” I asked. “Too bad!” she laughed. “Ugh,” I growled. Searching for seats we walked inside. When we found enough empty seats together we all sat down. Paul sat next to me. I was happy about that. “Shhhh, it’s starting,” my mom said. Sitting back I rolled my eyes. When I heard the people start talking, I got my ipod out and started playing with it. About an hour and two thousand names later, they were two people away from my brother. I looked up for his part. “Matthew Harrell!” they announced. I saw Matt walk up on the stage, accept his diploma, and skipped off. My family was screaming and clapping. Once he walked off the stage, I went back to playing my ipod. Another hour went by, and I was still playing with my ipod, although I should have been paying attention. Ten minutes later, it was finally time to go. Hopping in the car with my brother, sister and Paul, I was thrilled to be heading home. My dad, nana, papa, and little sister followed in my dad’s car, and my Grandpa took his own car. I was super excited that Paul was staying over when we got home. I love when Paul comes over because we have the best times. One time, we put tarps covered with dish soap on the front lawn and played slip and slid. When we got home, we all went inside and sat around the table. Paul jumped up and went to the kitchen. He got out a pan, some Pam, cheese, chicken, and tortillas. He started making quesadillas, for everyone, and we all enjoyed them. Now that I look back on that day, I realize it was one of the best days of my life. There is only one thing I would change if I could. I wish I paid more attention when my brother was graduating. That was a big day for him and at the time, I didn’t care. He is my brother and I should have cared more about him. I now realize that graduating high school is not just “no more school”. It’s more than that; it‘s a passage into a different phase of life. Now he has to get a job and that’s even worse than going to school. I wish I could turn back time and pay attention.

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