I loved going on vacation to the beach when I was younger. I loved building sand castles with my younger brothers and making up stories while surfing on our boogie boards. I looked forward to beach picnics and sunset ice cream trips. Hotel pools always felt amazing to cool off sunburns. I counted down the days to vacation every summer as soon as the last day of school passed. There were always so many big, exciting things to do. Now that I’m older, I cherish the small memories that I once looked past. Looking for shells on the beach in the morning with my mom, fishing on the dock with my younger brothers and stepdad, and late night life talks by the fire with my dad are the things that really mattered and the things I remember.

Young adulthood has definitely distanced me from my family, as it does for many others as well. It's as if our parents are aliens and don’t understand what its like to be 21. They ask us to stay home for a night, but our jobs and social lives are always first. I’ve learned that my chances for quality time with my family are few and far between, so I should cherish and take advantages of these occasions now. Sometimes you’ve got to let go of what you’re holding against your family and take time to remember how much you love and need them. You may not get another opportunity to say, “I’ll tag along next time”. Your siblings are going to grow up and go their separate ways as well, and it’ll be less often that everyone can be together at the same time.

Our lives are so fast-paced and filled with social media. It feels awkward at first sometimes to actually sit down and talk to your family when you may only keep in contact with a quick text here and there on a daily or even weekly basis. I try to remember how extremely grateful I am for these moments. I’m an outdoorsy person, but personally I think fishing is so boring. I would go anytime though if it means getting to watch my brothers have fun and smile. I take so many pictures on vacations because these moments don’t come often, and I want to remember every second of them.