Emily Egbert
Sister Steadman
Writing 150 T/Th
26 November 2011
Home Sweet Home
As the miles got shorter, my anticipation increased. I had never before been so rallied up to see the glow of the city. The lights of Las Vegas. Home sweet home was only a few moments away and all I could think about was the negative.
“What if I do not fit in anymore? What if I have changed so much that everyone doesn’t like me?” These are the questions that plagued my mind the rest of the drive home. And when the car finally pulled up, my heart was a racecar, fast and furious.
“Welcome home!” shouted my mom as I walked in. Her eyes sparkled and her kind, warm smile filled the kitchen. The familiar apple cinnamon candle captured my thoughts. It’s glow burning from the back corner of the counter brought back so many memories that happened in this home. So much joy, happiness, and love. I honestly asked myself, “and why was I worried?” The decorations around the house were beautiful. The oranges, the yellows, the reds. The plastic Indian corn on the table reminded me of the excitement and fun that was about to befall me. Handmade turkey drawings prompted me to be thankful for what I had.
My mom’s concerned question, “How have you been?” finally brought me back to reality.
“Good. I am just glad to finally be home,” I replied. And I think I honestly was glad. No matter how different I was, it was still home. Home sweet home.
One by one my dad and my siblings began to slowly show themselves. Dad, Lindsay, David, Kristen, Aaron, Joshua… “Joshua?” I thought. As my eyes traveled from one of my siblings to the next, they quickly fell on the youngest boy.
“Wow! Joshua!” I shouted. “How in the…When did this…What the…You are tall! Man! You must have shot up at least a foot.” Only the look of embarrassment was shown in his face.
“Well, who’s ready to begin the competition?” my mom asked. That was when I knew the long awaited traditional Egbert Thanksgiving family competitions were about to begin. The most popular events included a pie making contest and of course turkey bowling. No, not a turkey bowl, but actually bowling with a turkey. Mom had previously assigned this year’s groups. Mom and Dad would be the judges; Lindsay and Aaron were a team; David and Kristen would be together; and of course the greatest group of all, Joshua and myself. This was our year. It was obvious that we would win the title of The Greatest Egbert’s. No one would, or even could, get in our way.
I swiftly grabbed Joshua’s arm and dragged him to the computer in the kitchen to search for the greatest pie recipe. The pie competition was the most thrilling of them all and we were bound to win.
“So, what kind of pie should we make? Fruity? Chocolate?” I asked as I searched the web.
“Whatever will make us win. So, chocolate,” replied Joshua. “Obviously.”
As I scrolled down the page, both of our eyes landed on the future Egbert pie winner. The Chocolate Oreo Fudge Pie. Its chocolaty goodness was all we could think about. This was definitely THE one. THE winner.
The next day all the teams were in the kitchen making their pies and in the process turning home sweet home into a mad house. “Aaron, mix this!”, “Kristen, that’s too much!”, or “I need more sugar, Joshua!” was all that could be heard. Teammates sprinting around and around made it crazier every instant. The apple cinnamon candle could no longer be smelt. Only the delicious scents filled the kitchen. Scents of chocolate, banana cream, and pizza…pizza?
“Why in the world does it smell like pizza?” Lindsay asked amidst her mixing and whipping.
Mischievously, David and Kristen revealed their masterful pie creation. The scent of the red sauce filled the room while the sizzling pepperonis made my mouth water. A pizza pie! What a genius invention. “But, how could they?” I thought. “That’s not even a real pie! That’s cheating!”
My dad then interrupted my angry thoughts, “You guys ready for turkey bowling?”
“Yeah!” everyone shouted at once. Quickly, we all shoved our finished pies in the refrigerator to cool and ran out to the street to bowl. And there it was. The bowling ally was set up. The turkey was all frozen and ready to be bowled. Down the street, I could see the water bottles neatly spaced out across the asphalt posing as bowling pins. You could almost taste the tension in the air.
“Youngest to oldest,” my oldest sibling, Lindsay called. I am pretty sure she always says that just so she can see her competition.
“What!” Joshua complained. “It is always like that! How come…Oh come on! Fine.” With one disapproving glance from Mom, Joshua agreed.
As he lined up for the bowl, everyone moved in. Time slowed down. All eyes were on Joshua. His arm swung back, then forward, then back, then forward, then back, then forward, then back…
“Just bowl the turkey!” someone inpatient from behind me said.
And so Joshua let go. It began to roll, and then it began to wobble.
“NO!” Joshua and I shouted together as a team. His bowl had veered off course only to produce a gutter turkey.
“Emily, it is all up to you,” Joshua reminded my already nervous self. I lined up, picked up the turkey, tested its weight, and finally let it go. It began to roll, and then it began to wobble.
“Ohhhhhh!” my siblings yelled.
“You guys did not even get one pin!” David mocked.
The sadness began to build inside Joshua and I as we witnessed all of our other siblings slowly begin to knock the water bottle pins over. Lindsay and Aaron jumped and yelled with excitement as they knocked over pin after pin. Then, David and Kristen were up and ready to finish the game. Surprisingly, both teams’ skills were exactly the same. Both of their points ended up at 15 pins
“Let’s have a bowl-off,” Dad suggested. “It is the only way to see who really won.”
Every single bowl made the inch-by-inch race almost unbearable.
Lindsay and Aaron bowled the frozen turkey and then David and Kristen bowled. In the end, the victors were Lindsay and Aaron. They strutted and gloated and celebrated. They had beaten everyone. They were the winners of the turkey bowl. Not me.
“Who’s ready for the pie tasting contest?” Dad shouted. Everyone forgot about their wins or loses and sprinted into the kitchen to taste of the delicious variety of desserts. One by one, we all tried each others masterpieces. Chocolate Oreo fudge pie, banana cream brownie pie, and pizza pie. How was I supposed to choose? They were all so scrumptiously satisfying. Finally, after much deliberation, everyone’s ballots were cast. Anticipation grew as my dad calculated the total points for each pie.
“And the winner is…” Dad paused for dramatic effect, “Lindsay and Aaron’s banana cream brownie pie!”
Failure.
“Everyone is a winner!” exclaimed my mom. She would. But, I guess if you think about it she was right. Maybe. “I think we all had fun so that’s all that matters.” Okay, she is right. That is what is so great about my family. Everyone just loves everyone no matter what.
As all of the fabulous traditional Egbert Thanksgiving family competitions came to a close, I started feeling sad at the thoughts of leaving home sweet home in Las Vegas. All the laughter, the fun, the inside jokes, I would miss all of it. In the end I realized that it did not matter if Joshua and I won the competitions or not, but it mattered whether we had fun and created happy memories with the family. I realized that it did not matter how much I had changed or grown at college, I would still be accepted by my family and they would still love me. And I realized that it did not matter how much fun I had at college or how many friends I made, I would always feel safer and happier when I was with my family in home sweet home.
