Dear Editor,
The following is from
”
Mrs. Wanslow
”
for all the third graders in Gilroy who are learning to
write
”
Personal Narratives
”
:
Dear Editor,
The following is from “Mrs. Wanslow” for all the third graders in Gilroy who are learning to write “Personal Narratives”:
An Exciting Experience
Have you ever had an experience that was so exciting that it made you feel like you were a little kid again? I have!
Night was closing in on everything arranged in its place. Hundreds of tiny lights covered the house and the bushes. No one could tell, but four pairs of boots propped up shiny snowflakes on the top of the roof. Duct tape held cartoon ornaments on a crooked cartoon Christmas tree out front on a crooked cartoon sleigh. Whiffs of fireplace smoke filled the air.
A few days earlier, I had visited the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce with my son, Kyle, to fill out an application to enter the “Holiday Home Decorating Contest.” It had only taken a couple of minutes to fill in “Name”, “Address”, “Cross Street”, “Day Phone”, “Evening Phone”, “What your theme is if you have one”, and hand it to the friendly lady behind the desk.
As we crossed the bustling street returning to our car, Kyle mentioned that it would be “funny if we won.” I reminded him that we probably didn’t have enough lights or mechanical devices to actually win any contest. So time passed, like it always does, and before we knew it “judging day” had arrived.
I’ll admit we were pretty excited and by the time the sun had set in the west, we had made all the necessary adjustments and finally concluded that the house was “as good as it was going to get.” Since it was our first time entering the contest, we really didn’t know what to expect. We did, however, believe the judges would be by fairly soon. When they didn’t show up in a timely manner we were beginning to worry that we had somehow missed them or they had missed us. They must have been in one of those cars that we saw pausing out front when we peeked out the window.
If that was the case, we knew they certainly had not seen some of the “best stuff” tucked here and there in the windows. Well, what happened next, I really can’t say, because when the judges showed up I was down at Safeway. According to Kyle, who had stayed back at the house, the judges really liked everything right down to the mouse. Then we waited … and finally … we got a surprise? Our house had been picked! We had won the top prize!
This has been an exciting experience my family and I will never forget. It was a really nice ending to a pretty tough year. I hope your year has a nice ending, too!
Note to third graders: Were you able to recognize the title, introduction, setting, events (in order), and the conclusion? Why don’t you try writing your own personal narrative? It’s fun!
Note to all: You are invited to come to 1455 Falcon Court to see”The Grinch”! Feel free to go up to the windows for a closer look. Help yourself to a candy cane by the door!
Linda Wanslow, Gilroy
