I’ve always been a beach girl. I live for summer and think that there’s no better place than the beach. Actually, I know there isn’t. May through August are my favorite months and I’m not the typical girl who enjoys summer because school’s out. I enjoy summer because the sand in between my toes, the hot sun on my back and the breeze from the ocean are the best feelings in the world.
Since I’ve been 3 months old, every summer my family spends a couple of long weekends and a couple of weeks at my Grandma’s house in Cape Cod. The beach is 5 minutes down the road and you can bet we’re the first one’s there in the morning, and the last to leave at night. There’s no better way to spend the vacation. My Grandma always asks if we want to mix things up and go shopping instead of the beach, and we always tell her that maybe after the beach we can go because we can’t miss a beach day. Who wants to spend a blazing summer day inside? That’s ridiculous. The best summer memories don’t come from shopping at the mall, they come from the beach.
Having spent nearly my whole summer on the beach every summer it’s hard to pinpoint one memory. Most summers end up blending together and I remember them all as perfect and being on the beach, but only remember certain few memories since our summers are very repetitive. When I do remember a memory, you know that it must mean a lot. The starfish summer is always in the back of my mind and I remember it clear as day.
I have two sisters, one younger and one older, and they’re my best friends. We spend every second of the summer together laughing. When I was 7 years old, which would mean that Kate was 12, and Bridget was a newborn, Kate and I begged our parents to let us go for a walk on the rocks. “It’s too far away, we wouldn’t be able to see you” My mom would say. Finally my dad convinced her that the tide was out and there was barely any water near the rocks and we would be fine. We thanked our parents and ran as fast as we could what felt like miles. We finally arrived at the rocks panting like we just ran a marathon. Sweat beads formed on my forehead and rolled down my rosy red cheeks. My eyes opened wide matching the color of the sea. There they were. The rocks tower over me and my neck aches from tilting my head back to see them.
“Well, do you just want to stare at them or what?” Kate’s tugging my arm and we race to the far end of the rocks where we can get on. She gets on first and lifts my small body up. I’m standing on the rocks. I’ve always only been allowed to watch Kate and my cousins climb them, but I’m actually standing on them. This is the greatest moment of my life. Kate begins walking like its nothing. We’re not standing on rocks bigger than the Ifle tower or anything. She’s flying, so I guess I should probably start moving. I take my first step and my knee wobbles below me and you would think I’m standing on a skateboard. I slowly gain confidence and begin to move at the pace of a turtle instead of a snail. Kate’s laughing at me of course, “Come on grandma!” Finally I’m 2 rocks behind Kate, out of breath, and getting more scared with each step. We are a million feet off of the ground, higher than the birds fly, higher than the airplanes. It’s time for a break. I sit down on the rock and as soon as I squat down and am about to sit, I hear Kate yelling my name. “Colleen, Colleen! Come here now!” Her face is the same expression it was when we first found out we were going to Disney World. Her eyes are open so wide, they look like they can pop out of her head. Her arms flail and she’s bouncing on her feet. I fly up quicker than she can say my name again. I’m only 3 rocks away, but the space between the rocks is farther apart now that he rocks are bigger. I’m one rock away. My hearts beating so fast I can hear it thumping faster than a racecar. One more rock and I can see what all of this hype is. I make the jump and am on the same rock as Kate. My eyes follow her pointing finger and there it is. A small star suctioned to the rock. We watch the tiny star and just stare at it mesmerized. This is the coolest thing I have ever seen. “Can I pet it? “I ask Kate “Only very softly.”
“ Ewwww, it’s hairy.” Kate laughs and feels for herself. The hair on this star is rough like sandpaper, mixed with tiny hair, like the hair on a newborn baby. The tan color, matches the sand perfectly. “It’s moving, look at it slither!” The small star lifts half of its body up and slides along, sort of like a slug, never releasing its tight grip to the rock. “ I could stand here all day and stare at this little guy.” “I could too, but we should probably head back.”
The run back goes much quicker than the run there. Finally we reach the blanket where Mom’s sleeping and Dad’s holding Bridget. We wake my mom up obviously because this is the best day of our lives. My mouth moves faster than I can talk and I’m jumping up and down. It’s finally time to go home and Kate and I spend the rest of the day talking about baby star, that’s his name. I can’t wait to tell everyone I know.