Steeped In Love

Birthday celebrations, spent with family, have always been an important part of my life. From as far back as I can remember, I recall countless family gatherings spent around the table blowing out the candles on my birthday cake. It was just what us Friedmans (my maiden name) did! When I married into the Raspler family, I was very pleased that they too, shared the same tradition. As time elapsed, these traditions continued with many other family members' birthdays added to the mix. It was in 1992, after my first baby was born, that my Mother and I began a new tradition of our own. Little could have I imagined that it would have become such an important and cherished tradition in my life. My mom started taking me out to lunch each year on my birthday and she would always have some sort of unexpected and treasured gift to give me in honor of my becoming another year older. Wouldn't it be wonderful if aging was as easy as this? Although our birthday lunches are few and far between now, largely due to my hectic schedule, I still look forward to our get-togethers. This past birthday my mom happened to ask me when I was free for a celebratory lunch, but I reluctantly told her I would need to get back to her on it. We made our plans and the lunch date was set. We arranged to meet at our local hot spot, California Pizza Kitchen. Their pea soup is the best! I looked forward to our lunch as it would be a nice break from the usual and I always enjoy spending time with my mom. The day arrived and we sat, and we sat, and we sat. It was well over 2 hours. My mom and I are notorious for being able to talk for hours- ask my husband! Lunch was delicious as always and the time just flew. I looked at my watch and realized I needed to leave as my son would arrive home from school momentarily and he didn't have his key. My mom said to me that I needed to follow her to her car since she had something waiting there for me. Oh yeah, how could I forget... a birthday gift carefully planned out and presented so brilliantly! My mother wouldn't have it any other way. In the pouring rain we made our way to her car and she told me to get in the back seat. I did as I was told, as I always did what my mother told me- an old habit from my childhood. We were hysterical laughing as the two of us were crammed into the back seat of her Toyota. I really wished I had my camera at that point. She presented me with several large boxes to open (nice sweaters and shirts) but I really was in a rush to get home for Noah. She then tells me to open the smaller box and I couldn't imagine what treasure she might have for me, as she's bestowed so many on me already. As I opened the gift my eyes lit up with sheer delight as I unwrapped a decades old, treasured teapot from long ago. Along with the teapot was a wonderful little book about tea. I hadn't seen the teapot in years, but as always, my mom kept it beautiful, much like all her possessions, even ones as old as this. I took it all in, despite my rush to get home, and felt as though I were a kid again sitting around the dining room table with my entire family. I will always remember this gift bestowed upon me as I know it is steeped in love. I hope that someday, I too, will be able to share much the same traditions with my own daughter as my mom and I have, but even more importantly, to be able to pass on all the treasured heirlooms I have acquired from my mom through the years would bring me such joy.

Vocabulary
1. tradition (noun)- something that people do over and over for a long period of time
2. cherished (verb)- to care for something or someone you love
3. hectic (adjective)- very, very busy
4. celebratory (verb)- to do something in honor of a special occasion
5. reluctantly (adjective)- unwilling or slow to do something
6. heirlooms (noun)- a valuable object that a family owns for many years

Exercise: Cloze Activity

Using the Word Bank fill in the missing words of the story.

Word Bank

until   beside     into     near   behind    under

Walking _________ my History class, I noticed that the new kid in school, who happened to be the cutest boy I'd ever seen, was seated at the desk right ___________ mine. His eyes were as blue as the ocean I remembered that was ________ my Aunt's house in Florida. He held a bag of Cheez Doodles just _______ his desk for me to see. How did he know they were my favorite? __________ now, I only admired boys like this from a distance. Much to my surprise, he asked me if I wanted some as he whispered it to me _____________ ear's shot. Things couldn't get any better, so I thought! It was then that I realized he was speaking to Sally Smith, the prettiest girl in school who was seatd at the desk __________ him. Oh well!!!!!

Grammar Point: A Preposition is a perky word that no sentence should be without! They are used before a noun, pronoun or gerund to show place, time, and direction. The following words are examples of prepositions- inside, around, out, in, over, since, before, after, about, than, with and without. Look at the paragraph above and try to find at least two prepositions each for telling the place, time, and direction of something. Think about a gift that you received that had special meaning. Can you describe the gift in a short paragraph (at least 5 sentences) using no less that 6 prepositions.

I am just bubbling with excitement to be able to share the YouTube video for learning what prepositions are!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4jIC5HLBdM