Lauren Trudeau

Block A

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.” Martin Luther King Jr.

It was Christmas two year ago, and every year my aunt buys me something that I know I won’t like. I make a list of things I would like to receive every year, and for some reason she always decides to pick something out on her own. I am not criticizing the fact that she wants to be creative because I do appreciate her effort. Sadly, some years it has been especially hard to smile when I open her gift. Two years ago, was one of the hard years. She had bought me a horrific booger green dress that laid in my closet ever since the day I got it. I really don’t like hurting people’s feelings, specifically people that I love, so I found it extremely hard to tell her how I actually felt about her gifts. Last year I realized that keeping my emotions to myself and not telling the truth, was worse then hurting her feelings by telling her I didn’t like the gift. It was unfair to continue to let her spend money of things I would never use. I decided to have a chat with her about it, and it went great. Last year I received exactly what I wanted. Keeping quiet may be the easier option, but sometimes pushing out of our comfort zone and speaking up will give us a better result.