My winter break was fine, and unfortunately that's the only word I can say about most things. I had some dark times like driving in the rain at night to Kaiser to pick up some medication along with the oil pan of the car breaking once we arrived in San Jose, but I had a few bright spots. One of them was Christmas morning. I got up around 7 am and violently shook my mom to wake her up. Once she did, we both went to the living room and I got my stocking. I didn't see any big boxes, so I assumed my stocking was all my presents. Inside were the following:
I saw the envelope and thought it was just money, because that's all I usually get from family. I open it to see the Hallmark Disney card that we bought a few years ago. Still thinking it was money, I open it nonchalantly. I froze at the sight of what was inside. The card said the nickname my parents gave me, the Hallmark message inside, and it ended with, "Love from your parents." Inside that envelope was 2 tickets to a concert on May 11th in Costa Mesa. It wasn't until I read the names of the artists that my brain broke and my heart exploded. The Pacific Symphony was performing in Costa Mesa with Ben Rector and Cody Fry, 2 artists that made me hear a symphony. That's not all, my mom showed me the seating chart of the venue, and we were just 1 row away from the men that drove my imagination places. I had no words, I was just filled with Joy. I'm trying to listen to all their songs over the next few months to prepare for the experience of a lifetime. I especially listened to them during my trip to San Jose, and let's just say, it was so peaceful.
Another experience was going into a San Jose mall. We stopped by the LEGO store, wasted about $50 on stuff, and walked out to see other stores. It's a maze in there! We went into a plush store and found a Gryffindor squishmallow. It was tiny, but I sent it to my aunt and she told me that my other aunt saw a bigger version of it and more at Costco. Quickly, I told my parents and we set plans to find a nearby Costco to find my house squishmallow, the Ravenclaw raven. I should mention that we took our car to a Chevy dealer to fix it and the car was ready once we left the mall. We rented a car once we brought it in. It was a Chevy Bolt and it. was. TINY. We barely fit and it took forever to charge. We got our car back and went to the nearest Costco. Once arriving, me and my mom walked in and spent a few minutes looking around. It was weird. We usually go to the Costco in Alhambra, so the layout was new. For instance, the food court was inside of the building, unlike Alhambra that has it outside. The instruments and random stuff was not at the entrance, but the aisle before the exit. We spent a good time looking for that area until I saw a keyboard and assumed it was near. I ran to it and found the box. Inside were the Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff versions, and no Gryffindor ones anywhere. I got mine and ran with my mom to the self check-out. We got it for $24.85 I think. I was so happy with it.
One last experience I had was the trip to Kaiser, at night, in the rain. It was very dangerous, but we got back safely. I had a moment of serenity as I put on loop the entire ride the song "My December" by Linkin Park. With the rain and my parents barely talking, it was a perfect moment. I wanted to fall asleep so much. I found out later that the song was originally about traveling and missing home according to Mike Shinoda, an important member of the band and the songwriter of My December, but took on more depth over the years after the lead singer of Linkin Park, Chester Bennington, committed suicide after the death of his friend Chris Cornell. I didn't know about any of this and heard it as what Mike said. I do feel bad for hearing it with much innocence, and I hope Chester is doing well in Heaven, but all I can say is that I felt comforted by the vocals and piano as we drove to pick up my medication. There was more to my break, but that's all I'll share.