Jackson Moyer

The End of the Lake Trips

            When I was young, my brother Rhett and I spent a lot of time with my grandparents at their house at Smith Mountain Lake. Going to spend time with them at the lake became as normal as going to school. Under the bright sun, we would go on boat rides, play tennis, ride the Jet Ski, and swim in the pool and lake. We would often go on picnics under the tall trees, rustling in the wind, at the state park. At the bank of the lake we would listen to the water playfully lap on the shore as a boat went by. On the Fourth of July, we would go to the lake to go out on the boat and watch the booming firework show, the water gleaming as it reflected the fireworks. Whatever we did, going to the lake was always lot of fun for my brother and I.

            Practically the only downside was the fact that their house was over an hour away. While that was not too far away, it is still a long way to drive just for a day trip. Nevertheless, we drove to their house so often that I had the entire trip memorized – I knew every turn and every store along the route to their house. I even knew where the road took an unexpected dip that caused that falling sensation in your stomach. Even though they lived a distance away, we still managed to visit them at least once a month. As my brother and I grew up, however, we became busier and had less time to spend at the lake with my grandparents.

One day, my grandparents said, “We are going to try and sell our lake house move closer to Roanoke.” My brother and I couldn’t believe what we had just heard. No more boat rides? No more firework shows on the Fourth of July? We had grown up enjoying coming to the lake, and now they were going to move?

            “Are you sure you want to move? The lake is so much fun,” I said.

            “Yes, we’re sure. If we move closer to Roanoke, we will be able to see y’all more often because we wont be so far away,” my grandparents responded.

            I was as confused as a cat trying to catch the dot of a laser pointer. I did want my grandparents to live closer, but the thought of them not living at Smith Mountain Lake was very unusual, as they had lived there throughout my entire life. I wasn’t sure if they were capable of living anywhere else! My brother and I both spent our childhood visiting my grandparents at the lake very often, but soon we would not be able to do so! It felt strange to think of not going to the lake over Christmas or to watch the fireworks on the Fourth of July.

            About a month later, my grandparents called us and said, “We’ve sold the house and we found a new house in Bonsack!” I was sad that we weren’t going to go to the lake anymore, but I was hopeful that we would be able to spend more time with them now that they lived closer. As I thought of my grandparents moving from the lake, I started realizing that that wasn’t the only change that was happening in my life. I was about to go into eighth grade, which meant I was about to be in high school, which meant I was about to be in college! I almost fainted! Even though I knew I wasn’t close to becoming an adult yet, I was entering the beginning of my teenage years, and until then, that hadn’t really sunk in. My grandparents moving from Smith Mountain Lake was a pivotal moment in my childhood because not only did we no longer go to the lake, a childhood pastime, but I realized how quickly I was growing up and what was to come in the near future.