That Christmas was a little different than all of the other ones. My mom had wanted to be a cop all of her life; it was her dream. One day she decided to fulfill her dream. She went to ICC and took all the classes that she had to, to be a cop. She went through a lot of physical and emotional stress. She went to school for nine months straight. This was a tough time for not only my mom, but for me and my sister, too. We had to be separated from her for her to fulfill her dream. But, in the end, she was going to be closer to us.

When my mom moved from her job in Spartanburg, S.C., to Polk County, she took a pay cut.&bsp; So along with all of the bills we had, she had to pay for books too. This meant that there was less money to spend on accessories, and Christmas was coming up, and that meant less stuff for me and my sister.

The thing is we did not care anything about getting presents, because the main thing that we wanted that year was to have our mom closer to us. And that is what we were getting. We had sacrificed a lot. My mom had finally gotten what she had wanted for a long time. That was enough for us: to see our mom happy. So I guess that I am trying to say that you dont need all the presents and money to be happy. All you really need is family and for them to be happy.

Courtney Mace is a student in Alan Peoples freshman language arts class at Polk County High School.