The summer of 2013 I’ll remember forever, not only because the scars now left on my body, but also because the pain I felt that day will forever be locked away in my memories.  It started as a regular trip up to the lake with the cousins; it was a sizzling hot day, and the blue water looked fantastic.

When we first arrived there, everyone was so excited to get into the water. My cousin Ryan and I rode the rip stick and the skateboard to the new part of the lake; this is the best place to swim and have an amazing time. 

Everyone else road in the car over there, so my family was there by the time we showed up.  We all swam and had a fantastic time; around one o’clock everyone decided it was an agreeable time to go home and eat a late lunch. Ryan and I hopped on the rip stick and started to skate back to the house. There is a big hill that people have to go down to get to the house. I was on the rip stick, and my cousin Ryan was on the skateboard. I wasn’t going to ride down the hill because it was scary. I knew I would probably fall, but Ryan insisted that I would ride down with him. “Please, it will be so much fun!” he bugged. My sister and her friend Silvia were parked down at the bottom of the hill, waiting for us to get to the bottom. One—two—three- and we were off. At first I was telling myself that this was going to be a piece of cake, but as I sped up my mind set changed. I knew this was going to end badly. Very badly. Next I knew I was at the bottom of the hill-- in a driveway on--my face.  I jumped up and realized everyone was huddled around me. They told me I had passed out for about thirty seconds or so. They also told me I had slid into the driveway, which I didn’t remember.

My sister could only say, “Oh my gosh, of my gosh, oh my gosh!,” She was definitely in more shock than I was.
Luckily, I knew I had no broken bones. I started to look at all the scrapes I had all down my body. From my face to my ankle, I was bleeding. I was very scared and frantic and wanted to go home. I had so much adrenalin in my body at the time that I was shaking from head to toe.  There were sticks and leaves in my shirt and hair. I was a wreck and needed to get home. My sister was able to make it back to the house in about five minutes. As I walked in the house, I went straight to my mom.

“I fell,” I shyly uttered.

She took one look at me and replied, “You sure did.”

I learned not to ride down a hill on a rip stick that day. The memories that are left behind from this day are good and bad.  They reminded me of a great trip to the lake swimming, riding rip sticks and skateboards, and spending time with family. This trip also leaves scars and pain in my memory.