The Lake House on the Coast of Georgia

Lake House on the Coast of Georgia

Every summer my father would take my older sister and I to his humid lake house, his lake house on the coast of Georgia.

We had a huge age gap, she was in middle school and I was barely in elementary school. But that didn't stop us from swimming in the lake, running around the house, and watching The Parent Trap every night, at my father's lake house on the coast of Georgia.

The older I got the less interested Taylor was in playing at the lake house during summer. She grew more distant and annoyed by me. She no longer skipped rocks, played dolls, and played tag with me. Instead, she found more interest watching TV and calling her friends and messaging them on her laptop. She even invited them to the lake house to paint their nails and gossip about boys with them. Bleh. And she wouldn't even let me hang out with her and her friends, in the lake house on the coast of Georgia.

Suddenly, Taylor left for college. Was this past summer our last summer in the lake house together? I sure hope not. Taylor sympathized and told me she used to be alone in the lake house too, when I was too young to be away from mother. Even when she was hanging with her friends, I still missed Taylor's bright, bubbly presence graciously skipping around the lake house on the coast of Georgia.

I always looked forward to summer because I knew that no matter how busy Taylor was, she would never forget to spend time with us at the lake house. She wouldn't spend all summer like I would but she would take a few days off of her demanding job to see us. She would excitedly tell us about the joys of college and sororities, majoring in the medical field and my favorite, the amazing New York citylife! She would repeatedly tell me I'm growing so fast and asked me if I've found any guys yet and I'd laugh and admit I haven't, which she would then reply with, "You're too hot for them!" and we'd laugh it off. I will admit I maybe turning into my sister when she was a teenager as well, but unlike her, I will always stay loyal to the fellow lake house I grew up in, the lake house on the coast of Georgia.

A few more years pass and Taylor "forgot" to visit the lake house, according to my father and Taylor herself. I was in college too, but no matter how broke or busy I was, I always found a way to visit the home I grew up in, unlike Taylor. Though I will give her credit for the first few times she sacrificed being payed more money for her hourly job to visit us. I tear up when I think of the days Taylor and I hung out at our dad's beautiful lake house, even when she wasn't there everyday of the summer, even when she visited for a day, or an afternoon, even when she screamed at me to go away in front of her friends. I missed her. I missed her presence. I missed chatting up with her on the latest news in our lives in the lake house on the coast of Georgia. I miss it. I want it back.

But soon returned good news. Sort of. Taylor came back to the lake house and stayed for the whole summer! But with a guy named Mike. Who ended up being her boyfriend. While I was still single as a pringle. Did I also mention I'm a lesbian? Surprise, surprise! But that's another story. Anyway, the best part was Taylor and I were once again able to swim in the lake and skip rocks again! It was so great to have her back! The only difference was Mike was there all the time, like a chaperone. Overprotective like a lion. Even though I was a bit jealous that I couldn't find a happy, bubbly girl like my sister as easy as he did, I admired his love and protection over my sister and never threatened to hurt her. I loved having the gang reunited once again in the lake house on the coast of Georgia.

The next summer my sister announced she and Mike were engaged and asked me to be her bridesmaid and Maid of Honor. My heart sank. I was both happy and disappointed. Happy because after never thinking my sister truly cared about me she asks me to not only be her bridesmaid but her maid of honor. I could only lucky to be asked that by my joyful, wonderful sister. Disappointed because after she's married she'll probably never spend time at the lake house again and after all, we live in two separate states and leading two very separate lives and the only place we can agree to meet is our father's lake house on the coast of Georgia.

Taylor's wedding would be the last time I see her for a long time, maybe even forever. She found a great job offer in Europe and moved out there for good with her husband Mike. I mourned the death of our possibilities of ever hanging out at the lake house again due to our busy schedules. Instead of tearing up when thinking of our memories at the lake house I cry like a baby. I will never forget how much fun we used to have at the lake house, especially on the Fourth of July. From cooking a plentiful barbecue to watching the late night fireworks together, never again at the lake house on the coast of Georgia.

Father has died and for years I've been taking over the lake house, simply leaving it how it was before he died. I broke up with a girlfriend, quit my job, and moved all the way from Washington to take care of the lake house to make sure no crazy celebrity purchases it and remodels it far beyond what it used to look like. I sit on the porch every afternoon waiting for Taylor to return, she usually returned during the late afternoon after landing from her flight. I fear she'll never come back, and I do my best to forget her. But I simply cannot. I patiently await to see my precious sister step foot on this porch once again, on the lake house on the coast of Georgia.

A few more years pass (it's been 9 years since I last saw my dear sister, Taylor) and the best thing to ever happen to me happens: Taylor has returned! She looks different, she's now brunette instead of blonde, is wearing much more casual, plain clothes such as a t-shirt and jeans, not as stylish as the fancy blouses she used to wear, and best yet: Mike isn't with her! And even better, a young blonde girl is walking beside her! I love kids!

"Taylor, is that you?"

"Oh it's me alright, Caitlin." She chuckles, realizing she did not look as hot as she did 9 years ago.

"You look so different! And where's Mike?"

"Oh, well, uh, Caitlin, I've been meaning to tell you, Mike and I divorced."

"Oh, well I'm sorry to hear that. And who's this little girl?" I point to the little girl hugging Taylor's thigh staring me down.

"Oh, well this is Stella, my daughter. That I had with Mike. She's six years old. Stella this is your Aunt Caitlin. Say hi." She points to me. I am in utter shock. I didn't even know Taylor was ever pregnant! We both don't use social media that much.

"Well hi Stella! You look just like your mother!" I say, with a rather shocked expression. She waves back to me shyly, and resumes to hiding behind Taylor's thigh.

After a long lull, I offer them in for tea. I as politely as possible ask why Taylor is visiting and what happened to her good looks. She is visiting to start a new chapter in her life after her "messy" divorce from Mike and that stress, old age, and motherhood has ruined her good looks. Just like every time she visits, Taylor asks me about my love life. To sympathize with her I tell her I broke off a three year relationship with a girl to move back here and that I'm having trouble finding girls to date because it's so conservative here in Georgia. Not a bit liberal. Oh well. She also tells me she will be living back in Georgia now, which is hands down the best news I have ever heard, and I know Dad would've been happy to hear that too. We resume back to our activities, except I'm swimming in the lake and chasing Stella around the house, and Taylor is sitting in her well-preserved room binge-watching crime shows, like she used to do as a teenager.

And this all happened at the lake house on the coast of Georgia.