Summer Memories

Spring has finally arrived on Isle of Palms! The sun is shining more, the days seem to be longer, and we are finally starting to be reminded of the imfamous southern summer heat. As summer days start to approach, not only am I excited about welcoming the sun and waves- I am also ready to welcome all of the families that come to visit us each summer season!

I remember traveling to the beach every summer growing up. My dad worked from 9-5 at his job in Washington, D.C., but my mom was a teacher and she had three months off during the summer. My little brother Dylan, my mom, and I would wake up very early, pack up the car, and drive south for the summer. My mom's family all had relocated to the Carolina's from Virginia, and my mom's sisters, who are all teachers as well, had a summer vacation. We would all caravan the rest of the way until we crossed the bridge and finally reached the shore.

There were 5 aunts, 1 grandma, and 12 cousins all crammed inside the house, but looking back, I love how we were all so close! We would run out of bedrooms and I remember all the cousins in sleeping bags in the family room on multiple occasions. Waking up every morning, we fell into the routine of applying suntan lotion and making too many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to count. We jumped the waves, built sand castles, and looked for shells, and when the sun started to set, we would pack up our toys and sand covered beach chairs and head back for the night. We ate crab that we had caught in our own crab pots and we centered our schedules around the tides. When they were off of work on the weekends, my dad and uncles would head down to the beach and each husband would take a week off to be at the beach with their family.

As the years have gone by, my cousins and I have all gotten older. Most of us have graduated from high school and some of us have even graduated from college and have entered the "real world". Our vacation days are limited and we are all starting to realize how lucky we were to spend such a great amount of time at the beach when we were younger. Not only were those beach-filled summers a vacation for our parents- those summers helped us each create memories and establish bonds that we would each carry far into adulthood. I am extremely close to all of my extended family and it is undeniable that our relationships were strengthened each summer.

I am so excited to see other families come to the beach for their summer vacations and I know that the memories that they create will last through their generations. Nothing compares to the time you were able to spend with your parents, your siblings, and your children, and a beach vacation allows you to completely relax and spend quality time with your closest family and friends. Being at the beach reminds us that we should remember the simple things in life. We are able to take a break from our normally busy lives and take pleasure in the simple things in life. We spend all afternoon building a castle made of sand and jumping waves, and being at the beach reminds us that at the end of the day, it is the hand that we are holding while we jump through the waves that matters the most.