One Christmas night, after we opened gifts and watched the football game, my best

friend Emmelis’ texted me. “Do you wanna go to the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree with my brother and I?”. A smile spread across my face and I asked my parents if I could go. They agreed, and I ran up to get ready. They arrived soon after and I climbed in the car. In the car sat her brother, Jose, in the front seat, his girlfriend Nagma in the passenger seat, and Nagma’s son, Max, and Emmelis in the backseat. We started on our way to New York, singing Christmas songs the whole way there.

We got into New York City and (luckily) found parking. We went to Applebee’s to grab a

bite to eat. We ordered our food and waited some more, laughing and chatting about Christmas stories. The food came out and we dug in, but we soon discovered that, because it was so crowded, the food was all cold. We all ate the chips that came with the appetizer, paid, and left. We piled back into the car and headed to the tree.

Once we reached the tree, we all got out and looked around. The singing of Christmas

choirs filled the air. We watched a light show and made our way to the tree. Max ran around

and said hi to every Santa and Mickey Mouse in the vicinity, and Nagma stayed close by him. Jose, Emmelis and I strolled around and took pictures in front of the tree. It was cold that day, and we were all shivering as we watched people skate around the ice skating rink. We bought some hot chocolate and caught up with Nagma and Max. We took some more pictures of the tree and headed back to the car. On the ride home, everyone but Jose and Nagma fell asleep. That day reminds me of what Christmas is all about—being with the ones you love and making happy memories.