Descriptive Essay

Things change. That’s just how life is. You life can go from good to bad or from bad to good or somewhere in between. Some people are more fortunate than others financially and I believe the government plays a big part in how much a person earns in their jobs. I remember back at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of 21^st century that a lot of my family members used to gather at my uncle’s apartment or very few times at my cousin’s house in Pennsylvania to celebrate Christmas. My uncle had an artificial Christmas tree every year. He would decorate it with colorful ornaments and he’d also hang different Christmas cards on it and then he placed it in the corner of his living room near the windows. There were also some other small decorations around his apartment like pictures of Santa Clauses. When the guests came in they would put the presents they brought under the tree. The presents were in all sorts of wrapping paper from plain colored sheets to shiny colorful ones with snowmen or other Christmas related images. We would go to his home on Christmas Eve and then wait until it was midnight to open the presents and then my family would stay up all night partying. When you went in you got a warm feeling as if all your problems were gone. Of course this is how I feel now but before, as a kid, I just thought about what I’d get that year. At that time many presents were given. Expensive things were being given to each other. For the kids, things such as game systems or other toys that recently came out were given. The adults didn’t get as much gifts as the kids but they still received stuff like beautiful dishware to clothing. Me and the other young children opened their gifts first. We had big smiles on our faces as we ripped the wrappings apart under the window that showed the big snowflakes falling from the dark orange sky. When we were done we gave out the other gifts to the adults. Christmas songs were being played from the stereo when the gifts were being opened and after it was done the songs changed to Latin music such as Bachata and Salsa that my relatives would dance to. As the years went by the Christmases weren’t the same. Christmas became only for the kids because the adults didn’t get anything. Every year there was less presents which were still great but less money was spent. Money was becoming a problem. The recession problems were starting and some of my relatives including my father lost their jobs. My family never completed college so they didn’t have a secure career only common jobs. We still go to my uncle’s home but only the little kids get gifts. However nobody complained since we all understood the importance of money and what was more important was to be reunited as a family to celebrate the end of the year festivities. Fortunately my relatives who lost their jobs got new ones and some even went back to college. Even though the money issue got better, presents are still only given to the little kids. It sort of stayed like a tradition.