She was like the teacher that you always wanted; one who would always be on top of your studies yet would have the sense of humor to make you laugh out loud. Growing up as a young child I would develop a great sense of humor and a smart head on my shoulders due to the help from my Aunt Ela.

My aunt is almost like a second mother to me. That’s how important she and her values are to me. My aunt has helped me become a person who wants to succeed in life with the direction of intelligence and laughter. She has helped me realize that when a situation is at its worst little laughter couldn’t hurt anyone. She has also helped me relax with my work by using here superior sense of humor. It makes situations so much easier for me.

Though she may not be the youngest, the prettiest, or the smartest person alive, my aunt is a big woman with a big smile. Many of her characteristics have rubbed off on me over the years.

My aunt would often baby-sit me when I was younger and she would like to show her wittiness. One time when I was in 3^rd grade she was looking after me when my mom had to do some shopping. I was watching TV when I heard the phone ring. I picked up the phone and heard a deep voice is on the other end.

“Hello, we have your mother in our car right now and we want 50,000 dollars in one hour.” She then laughed.

“Hi, Tia Ela, I know it’s you. Very funny.” I said to her. I could only smile and laugh, as my aunt could be the only one playing this kind of a joke one me. It was moments like that that had my aunt helped me build my great comical attitude, which I feel helped me achieve in school.

She would always make sure that I did well in school. She would never give me anything unless she saw that I was able to maintain good grades. Every subject was important to her because she told me the more classes I have the more opportunities there are for you to like something in the future.

She would have Christmas parties for the family and right there she would ask me about my grades. Like last Christmas she said, “I won’t be giving you any presents unless I see some A’s on your report card. I’ll let slip you with some B’s every once in a while.” She whispered to my face and then gave me a big smile.

My response while smiling was, “Come on, with a face, smile, and humorous mind-set like mine what teacher wouldn’t want to hand me that A.”

It really wasn’t the presents that I cared about; it was making my aunt proud of me and me wanting to show her the smart kid that she knows I am.

My aunt always likes to make the best of any situation possible. One time I was angry because my mom didn’t allow me to go to a friend’s house. My whole family was going to a barbeque at the beach. She came over the house and saw that I wasn’t too happy. She said, “Oh come on, this is going to be great. For one thing the whole family is going to be there. Second, I’m going to be there cooking. Finally, you could look good in front of the girls with a foxy lady like me walking by your side.”

I could only respond with a smile and laugh. “Oh, sure the girls are going to be all over me. They won’t be able to keep their eyes off of me.” It turned out that I had a great time and thanks to my aunt her optimism made the day better.

My aunt Ela has shown me that comedy and intelligence, mixed along with an optimistic attitude and you can help you accomplish any goals possible. Right now I feel that I have been able to grasp the joys of humor to make the worst of situation a little more pleasant. Though I may not be optimistic all the time, I try to look at tasks differently. She has helped me make learning along with school more entertaining and I feel it has worked so far. In thank her for helping me maintain an education to and a great sense of humor to benefit me along the way.