Example Essay

Being a single mom, my fourteen year-old son is everything to me. There is nothing I like more than to see his face light up because I have made him happy. That is why on several occasions I have been know to “bend over backwards” just to see that reaction. Here are some examples of what I have done to make my son happy.

It was a year ago November and Nintendo was releasing their new platform, the Nintendo Wii, and this was all my son had talked about for months…How awesome this system was going to be, all the cool things you could do with it and how it was all he wanted. It was being released on November 19th and I remember that people had started lining up on Friday, November 17th, and I thought there is no way I am going to be able to get one. Well on Saturday I happened to be at Wal-Mart in Brewer around 1:00 in the afternoon and there was no line outside, so I thought maybe they are lined up down by layawy. I went down to layaway and they had 20 folding chairs sitting there and 11 of them were already taken. One of the people told me that if you were sitting in one of the chairs at midnight, you would be able to purchase a Nintendo Wii. So guess what I did, I sat. I told my boyfriend that I was staying put, so there I sat for over 11 hours in that folding chair. It was uncomfortable and miserable, but when I was able to give my son that Wii for Christmas, it was all worth it.

Last December we heard Van Halen was going to be going on a reunion tour in 2008 and one of the dates was going to be in New Hampshire. He told me that was all he wanted for his birthday was tickets and how Eddie Van Halen was his idol and that they shared the same birthday. I told him there was no way we would be able to get tickets and also that I couldn’t afford them with all the money I had spent on Christmas. But he was downstairs at 10:00 a.m. on the Saturday they went on sale, so I thought what the heck I might as well try. I logged on to Ticketmaster and sure enough there were 3 tickets available at $100 each, so I hit purchase knowing this was going to be another one of those times his face would light up. On his birthday, January 26th, I gave him a Van Halen Greatest Hits CD and a Van Halen DVD. When he opened the DVD and saw the ticket, he couldn’t believe it. He was beaming and looking at me asking me how in heck did I get the tickets. Again, it was worth every penny.

My son graduates from eighth grade this year and he told me that for graduation he wanted to go to Florida and go back to Universal Studios. So I thought, how can I make this trip great? Well I have booked our trip. We leave on Saturday, June 14th, 4 days after graduation. When we arrive in Florida, I have arranged for a car to pick us up at the airport and take us to Universal Studios. I have booked four nights accomodations at one of the Universal Properties, length-of-stay passes to both parks, ride express to all rides, meal passes and to top it off tickets to see The Blue Man Group. When I told him this was booked and that we were going, he was so excited. I am sure this trip will always be special for both of us.

Now some may say all of this is a little excessive, but for me it is not. I didn’t mind sitting in an uncomfortable chair for 11 hours, or spending $300 on concert tickets, or purchasing a trip to Florida for the two of us because in the end there is nothing more important to me than making him happy. The best part of all of it is that he is a great kid and he appreciates all I do. He never ends a conversation with me (even when he is mad) without telling me he loves me. How great is that? He is the best!