What is an urban legend? An urban legend is, according to Webster Dictionary, “a form of modern folklore consisting of stories thought to be factual.” Urban legends are not necessarily false, but they often become distorted over time. Some urban legends have been passed down from generation to generation. Legend has it that if you wash clothes on New Year’s Day you will wash someone out of your life. This urban legend has been passed on for decades in a family. My family and I are not very superstitious, but we are totally against washing clothes on New Year’s Day. As for me and my family, that legend is true; it has a great impact on me. We have followed that tradition until 1999.
In 1999 my family and I went to visit my grandparents in Tacoma, Washington for the holidays. While in Tacoma, my family and I did many activities. We all played in the snow. We went ice skating in Franklin Park. We also roasted marshmallows around the fireplace in my grandparent’s living room. As a tradition, my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, all gathered together to eat our first dinner of the New Year. After all the fun activities with my family, things changed shortly thereafter.
Two weeks after leaving Tacoma, one of my uncles died. My uncle’s name was Ron. Uncle Ron was one of my favorite uncles. He always made me laugh whenever I felt sad. It was very surprising to hear that Uncle Ron had passed away. Uncle Ron was the healthiest person in the family.
Since he was so healthy we tried to figure out what went wrong with my uncle. We asked the doctors if there were any problems with him that we were unaware of. The doctor confirmed that he was indeed in good health. After all the investigating we were ready to give up. Until my cousin Victor announced that he washed clothes on New Year’s Day.
After finding out about what Victor had done, it was a sigh of relief. Now we know the cause of Uncle Ron’s untimely death. Victor has been afraid to wash clothes ever...