3rd thing that stopped me in my tracks

        September 17^th, 2011. I woke up to the scream of my mother’s voice. I slowly got out of my bed and made my way to the living room, where my parents were waiting. My brother met me there. Our mom told us to get dressed and pack an extra outfit. We would be on our way to universal studios in less than an hour. I was surprised. We had never gone to an amusement park as a family. My brother’s eyes lit up. I was excited, but not as much as my brother. He had never been to universal studios before.The ride there was too slow. My brother and I slept most of the way. We later got there & had to go through the process of finding a parking spot & buying tickets. It took way too long, but it was worth it. We spent three hours in universal studios & four hours in Island of Adventures.  My brother & I rode almost every single ride in both parks. It was always one of my brother’s minor wishes to throw up from riding roller coasters over & over again. Since that was his last weekend to be a kid, this was his last chance. By 7pm, we had been on ‘rock it’ twice, ‘The Hulk’ three times, & ‘Dragon Challenge’ seven times. We were tired, sick, dizzy, & weak by the time we left the park, but neither of us threw up, regrettably. We made our way to the Ale house to eat dinner. It was packed from door to door but we were able to get a booth. We were on the edge of our seats, watching the Mayweather vs. Ortiz fight. The outcome was a perfect way to end the night. By 2am, we were checked into a hotel, right outside of Daytona. This ended the best weekend i had had in a very long time. 

2nd thing that stopped me in my tracks:

                  July 21^st, 2011. I was sitting on my bed, sketching, as usual, out of no inspiration but pure boredom. My brother approached my doorway. He was smiling in that proud, older brotherly way, but I could tell something was wrong. He came and sat by me & tried to make casual sibling-like conversation. I wasn’t really paying attention to whatever he was talking about. I just wanted him to get to the point. Slowly, he got there. His tone of voice changed, it was now soft & sympathetic. But his eyes whispered that he was excited & anxious. My brother announced that he would be leaving on September 20^th for two months. He would be flying to Texas for air force training. He said that hopefully he would be back by thanksgiving. I nonchalantly made small talk about the situation as I continued to sketch. When he finally left my room, I analyzed the whole situation. “Two months isn’t that long.” I thought, “But what about the next time? How long would he be gone then; years? Would he be in a completely different country? My pencil dropped as tears crawled up into my eyes & parachuted down my face. My brother was abandoning me.                                                                                                                                                                  

1st thing that stopped me in my tracks

    June 7th, 2011. I remember riding in that Apple red Pacifica, on the way to the venue of the glorious event. I was wearing a pink-lemonade colored dress along with my silver shoes. I was excited, but I still had the feeling of fluttering wings the pit of my stomach. My dad was driving, & unfortunately, for this occasion anyway, he was driving very cautiously. I was afraid we would arrive late. I kept rushing my dad & looking for a place to park at the same time. We actually arrived 20 minutes early, my dad got lucky. The ceremony was long, i was anxious to get to the good part. It seemed like it took hours, but eventually, that anticipated moment occured. when the principal of First Coast High school called my brother's name. my eyes lit up, a smile formed across my face, & i screamed & clapped so loud for him. my brother graduated High school:). When the hats of the newly announced alumni students flew up into the air, I thought to myself, "that's going to be me one day."