My Favorite Word

My Favorite Word

January 13, 2005

            It is hard to determine which word would be my favorite or would best describe me.  However, I believe one simple word represents who I am fairly well, and therefore it is my favorite word.  The word is family.  This word represents what my family means to me, my beliefs, and how theme parks should be run.

            Without my family, I do not know how I survive.  My family means everything to me, especially my parents.  My dad is a man who always is helping others before thinking about himself.  For as long as I remember, my dad has always been a hard worker.  He is a lawyer and is constantly busy with his clients; however, he always manages to provide more and more enjoyment to my family.  Along with my father, my mother has been an important role in my life.  My mom is always doing things for other people, especially my grandmother.  An ex-school teacher, she currently looks after my grandma since she has cancer.  My mom takes her to get cancer treatments every week and because of the love my mother provides my grandma, she is beating the cancer.  Growing up within this environment, I too have learned the beliefs of what it means to be a family.

            My definition of family is a traditional, stereotypical family in America. .  This family would consist of a mother, father, and two children.  In my book, if these four people can not all have fun together, then I do not consider anything a family event.  As a Catholic, I always try to help and serve others before myself.  Over the past summer, I volunteered at two Catholic masses at Cedar Point every Sunday.  One thing that impacted me the most was the fact that families would come take their vacation to The World’s Best Amusement Park and would still take time to go to mass before going to the park and having fun.  Seeing this twice a week, every week, really influenced my respect for the traditional family values and my respect for them.

            Whenever I hear the word family, I usually think about an amusement or theme park.  Theme parks, such as Disney, have always stood for the family and have represented the traditional family values.  Unfortunately, many businesses no longer share this value and have focused more on bringing in a profit.  One of the best examples would be the Walt Disney Company, of which Michael Eisner is currently CEO.  However, Eisner has put the company in utter disrepair and many of the values that the creator, Walt Disney, put into the theme parks are no longer visible.  One of these values is the family, which Disney no longer appreciates in their parks.  Currently Michael Eisner only wants to bring in money, and he is accomplishing this by making many cutbacks in every department of Disney.  The theme parks have been heavily hit, with very few new rides added and the new rides are similar rides at other parks.  By cloning their rides, they cut down design costs drastically, which saves them money.  Disney can no longer afford to do everything cheaply anymore as family’s are starting to realize that the family friendly atmosphere in the theme parks is slowly disappearing.

            Family stands for something important to me.  It is my favorite word to say, as I am proud to say.  My whole family means a great deal to me and I do not know what I would do without them.  My faith reflects my belief in the traditional family values and whenever I hear the word family, I usually start thinking of Disney.  No matter what the dictionary mentions about the word family, it will always be my favorite word.