Since I was born, my mom’s side of the family has gone to North
Truro, Cape Cod, all 20+ of us. My grandma, grandpa, their five kids, their 5
spouses, and 9 grandkids. Every year, as long as I can remember, I have looked
forward to the second to last week in August. Looking forward to a week full of
family, laughing, and eating. This trip was a tradition full of traditions. We
would go fishing on a boat called the “Cee Jay”, eat lobster at Moby Dick’s,
Get ice cream at the fish tank place (that’s what I know it as), go mini
golfing, go to the flee market, go to the drive in movie, and so on. The most
important tradition to my Grandma was the family picture. Every year my
Grandparents would buy the same shirt for all 20 or so of us, and we would line
up in height order on the boardwalk for our annual family picture. There are
about 10 of these pictures in circulation around our houses, you can see all of
the grandkids moving up in the height order, and the aunts and grandma moving
down. The trip didn’t change much over the past 10+ years, but I didn’t mind. I’m
not a big fan of change, and neither is most of the family. Even though the tip
of Cape Cod is hundreds of miles away, it felt like a second home to me. Going
there was routine, and didn’t even feel like a vacation, but a getaway from
life, right before school started. Being on the cape was comforting, and
reminded me of how strong of a family I had. This past summer, on July 31st,
my Grandma passed away. This left our family heartbroken, she was the matriarch
of our family, organizing everything and loving everyone equally at the same
time. She may have been retired but she had a fulltime job as a loving
grandmother. One of the first things I remember talking about was whether or not
we were going to go to Cape Cod two weeks later. My grandpa was hesitant, but
we all made sure he was there. This trip was very difficult without her there.
We stayed at a different place, went to different restaurants, to distract
ourselves from her absence. Nothing we did could stop the constant amazing
memories of her from flooding our heads. I tried to tell my mom, aunt, and
grandpa, who were hit hardest from this tragedy, that these memories were good
things, and that she did her job by leaving us with such amazing memories. All
of this sadness showed me that my “Happy Place” wasn’t exactly Cape Cod, but
being with my Grandma.
Ben! First of all I totally agree with you about the Cape. (my post was on Cape Cod too) It is such an amazing place to share with family, and the great memories to be made there are endless.
ReplyDeleteI was so saddened to hear about your grandmother. I had never met her, but knowing your parents, Annie, and Lauren, I am sure she was a very loving person. Although tragedies in our lives are extremely sad and unsettling, I am glad that you realize all of the times you spent with her were truly special. Memories we create with people we love in our childhood, stay with us forever.
I love the last sentence it really stands out to me.
Nice Post :)
I am so glad that you convinced me to read this Ben! As I continued in your post, the love you have for your family and Cape Cod grew in my mind. I have to agree with Caroline, the last sentence( as you know) made me tear up. I never met either one of my Grandmothers but I constantly try to imagine what they would be like and I hope that they would be like yours! Keeping the family together and spreading the love over the years was a gift and I'm glad you see it as such. Thank you for being so honest!
ReplyDeleteWow.. just wow.. I wasn't expecting such a sad chapter in that story. I love your description of your memories, I could almost picture exactly what you said. The feeling of the place. I'm so sorry to hear about your grandma, but it made an amazing post! I'm sure it was just very different because it was so recently that she passed. Even though it will never be quite the same, your family will be able to enjoy those traditions again, but in a different way, and your grandma will always be with you guys living that tradition every year.
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