You should always be grateful for what you have. That is what my parents taught me. They always say that I am very lucky to be able to have nice things. Not everybody has the fortune of living in a house or not having to worry about if they are going to be able to eat dinner. It is important to realize that there are many people out there less fortunate. Therefore, you should not take the things you have for granted. It is very important to appreciate everything you have.
When I was little, my family and I would always go into the city around Christmas time. One thing that I noticed was that there were a lot of people that were laying outside in the cold. I did not understand why people were doing this. So I asked my Dad. He explained to me that those people were homeless. They did not have a home to live in. I was very shocked by this. I started asking a lot of questions like how do they get warm and how do they eat food. My Dad said that they just try their best to stay warm because they most likely do not have anywhere else to go and they get food anyway that they can. This made me very sad and made me realize that I am very lucky. My Dad had the idea to buy some food and give it away to some of the homeless people. I loved the idea and I was very eager to help. We started handing the food out to people and they were all so grateful. It made me feel good inside to make other people smile. Something so small like a slice of pizza can make someone’s day. It is that easy. Therefore, you should be grateful for everything you have.
Also, When I was in middle school I was in a club that did community service. One day we went on a field trip to a homeless shelter. We got a tour of the place and it was very interesting to see how people live everyday. It really did make me appreciate that I am able to live in a house with my family. It was very inspiring to see how people that are less fortunate live. They are all there for many different reasons. The people there were all doing their best. They are fortunate for any food that they can get and they are fortunate for being able to have a place to sleep at night. It is important to realize that you are lucky for what you have because there is probably someone out there that is struggling a lot more. During the trip, we handed out food that we brought to the people that live there. Everyone there gave us the biggest smiles. We all made their days a little better just by smiling and giving them some food. This shows the importance of giving back and being fortunate for what you have.
The Unexpected
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Emma, a seventeen year old girl, is a senior in high school. Outside of school, she has an afterschool job babysitting for a family in the neighborhood. She babysits for the Wilson family, who has two little boys named Logan and Ethan. Emma has been babysitting for the Wilson family for over a year now. She goes to their house everyday after school for a few hours and occasionally on the weekends. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are always very nice to Emma and they always seem like a happy family. Emma always enjoys babysitting Logan and Ethan. On the other hand, the boys always like Emma’s company as well.
“Hello boys, I’m home!”
Mrs. Wilson had just come home from work.
“Aw no, we were just about to play another round of hide and seek.”
“That’s okay Logan I will be back tomorrow and we can continue the game,” said Emma.
“Can’t you just stay a little longer please!” yelled Ethan
“Well, I do have some more work to do in my office, maybe Emma can stay a little longer and finish the game.” “Is that alright with you Emma?”
“Of course!” Emma said.
Emma and the boys continued to play hide and seek. About ten minutes later, Mr. Wilson walks through the door, greets the kids and goes into the office to greet Mrs. Wilson. Emma and the boys finish their last round of hide and seek. Emma walks toward Mrs. Wilson’s office to say goodbye. However, she hesitates when she hears some arguing between Mr. and Mrs. Wilson. This seemed strange to her because she has never heard them argue like this before. She decides to wait until they come out to say goodbye. Eventually, they come out, looking agitated at each other, and say goodbye to Emma. As Emma drove home, she thought about how they have been fighting a little more recently. She wondered why Mr. and Mrs. Wilson were fighting because it did not seem good. However, Emma decided not to worry about it because it was not her business.
About two weeks after this, Emma was babysitting Logan and Ethan after school on a Thursday, as usual. She notices that she has not seen Mr. Wilson for almost two weeks which seemed strange to her because he is usually home more than Mrs. Wilson.
“Hey guys I’m home!” yells Mrs. Wilson
“Oh hi Mrs. Wilson! Where has Mr. Wilson been all week? I haven’t seen him lately.” Emma says.
“Oh um he had to go on a business trip this week.” says Mrs. Wilson
“Oh good,” Emma says “I was just making sure he wasn’t dead or anything haha.”
That’s about all Mrs. Wilson would say about how Mr. Wilson was on a business trip. Usually, if Mr. Wilson goes away, Mrs. Wilson mentions it to Emma beforehand. It also seemed odd because Mr. Wilson never usually goes on business trips for this long. Emma then realizes that Mr. Wilson’s watch has been sitting on the counter all week. Mr. Wilson always wear his watch. He would definitely not go on a business trip without it. All of this made Emma a little suspicious, especially the watch. She could not stop thinking about the watch. However, Emma decided to brush it off and not worry about it too much.
The next day, after Emma finished babysitting, Mrs. Wilson sits Emma down to talk.
“Listen, Emma I am sorry but we won’t be needing a regular babysitter anymore so we will not need to you come after school everyday. Thank you so much for all that you have done for me and the boys, it means a lot. Goodluck with the rest of school and I will see you around”
Emma was shocked by this. The situation was very abrupt and confusing. Mrs. Wilson did not even give Emma a reason for letting her go. Emma, being baffled by all of this had a thought in the back of her mind that something was not right. Everything seemed so suspicious and nothing was adding up. Emma thought about Mr. Wilson’s watch again. Why was it there? Why has it not moved in two weeks? What did all of this mean?
The next day, Emma decides that she wanted to deliver some gifts for the family as an appreciation and thanks for letting her babysit over the past year. Emma approaches the Wilson’s house. At this time, Logan and Ethan were still in school, but Mrs. Wilson usually worked from home on Fridays so Emma hoped that she would be home. She rang the doorbell. There was no answer. This seemed strange because Mrs. Wilson’s car was in the driveway so it seemed like she was home. Maybe Mrs. Wilson didn’t hear it. Emma rang the doorbell again. No answer... again.
Emma was just about to leave when she realized she still had a key to the Wilson’s house which she had to return anyway. Emma used the spare key to open the front door.
“Hello is anybody home?” Emma said
There was no answer
Emma decided she was just going to drop off the gifts and the spare key on the kitchen counter. There she saw, yet again, Mr. Wilson’s watch. When Emma saw the watch, it reminded her of her suspicions again. As Emma was placing the gifts and the key down, she sees Mrs. Wilson through the window to the backyard of the house. Emma was about to go outside and greet her until she realized that it looked like Mrs. Wilson was burying something in the ground. She had a large shovel in her hand and had made a huge hole. This left Emma very unsettled. Emma had a gut feeling that something was not right. She was determined to find out what was going on.
To get a closer look, Emma walked down to the Wilson’s basement where she could look closely through a small window without being seen by Mrs. Wilson. She walks down the basement steps as carefully as possible. Emma reaches the basement window. All of a sudden she trips over a large black bag. Emma could feel that something was in the bag. It was something heavy. As Emma opened the bag to see what was inside, she got a sudden chill down her body. As she opened the bag more it became clear what was in it. A body. Unexpectedly, Mr. Wilson’s body. Emma stood there frozen and unable to speak; in absolute shock.