Queen for a Day

You know how people always say “I never win anything!” I fortunately can’t say that about myself. Every time I hear the expression, I think about the first time I had ever won anything. In fourth grade, our class had an assignment to take part in a local contest. The premise was that our town paper held a yearly contest called “Queen for a Day.” For Mother’s Day, the newspaper accepted essay entries explaining why you thought your mom deserved to be pampered for a special day.

I spent a great deal of time contemplating what exactly I could write that would win the contest. I wanted nothing more than to win the prize for my Mom since she was so deserving of it. I did my best to tell about all the wonderful things she did for me and my sister, always putting us first. I submitted my essay and included a cute picture that we took at Disney World together.

Mother’s Day was quickly approaching, and I got a little nervous. I constantly thought about the possibility of winning, but also about the odds. Five grades in our school alone were participating and I knew of at least two other schools doing the same. Not to mention, there were probably tons of other people writing in. I had hoped at the least that a part of my essay or the picture would be in the paper since there was usually a few pages devoted to the contest including not only the winners.

Sunday morning rolled around and the phone was ringing off the hook. My mom came to my room to wake me up to let me know that family and friends were leaving messages about our picture being in the paper. I was ecstatic! I jumped out of bed and got dressed so we could go pick up a copy at the store a few blocks away. When we got there I ferociously tore through the paper to find the photo. There it was, not only the photo, but I had won the grand prize. We were both surprised and I nearly dropped to the floor. I watched my mom smile as she read my essay and gave me a big hug and kiss afterwards. She enjoyed her day at the spa and I basked in my first win in life.