After taking about 40 minutes to get ready for school I was ready to go downstairs and join my family for breakfast. I walked down the hall towards the stairs. The walls were covered in pictures from past vacations and other pictures from over the years. I stopped and examined one of them. It was of me and my brother Ethan from last summer. We were sitting on the old dock that he, my father and grandfather built when I was 4 years old. We were sitting beside each other with our feet in the water. We had two fishing rods that we found in the basement of our cottage the day before when we cleaned it out. One was my dad's old big red one and the other was a small Barbie one from when I was younger. I had the larger one while Ethan had the Barbie one. I remember that day like it was yesterday!
It was around 6 o'clock on a warm summer evening. We had just finished dinner when Ethan shoved me and said "Hey Kira, race you to the dock!" as he ran through the back door.
"Hey not fair!" I yelled running after him.
It had rained the day before and the rock steps down to the lake were muddy and slippery. I managed to keep my balance down the 40 steps but as for Ethan, I passed him after he fell on the second step. Ha! So much for a head start! He was rushing so he slipped almost every step. I couldn't help but laugh the whole way down. I had quickly grabbed the two fishing rods we left at the bottom of the stairs yesterday when it started to rain and sat down at the edge of the dock to wait for Ethan. After a few moments, Ethan finally showed up and sat next to me. He looked at the fishing rods then at me then back at the rods they went to grab the big red one.
"Oh no, you don't! You got that one yesterday, E! It's my turn!" I said as I grabbed his hand.
He looked at me and slowly said "You're joking, right?"
I turned away from his glare and grabbed the red fishing rod and quickly said "Suck it up, princess!"
"Fine," he said as he snatched the small Barbie fishing rod from the dock. I smirked.
We were sitting there for about two hours catching and releasing the fish we caught. We talked about school and told jokes and talked about other things that bothered us and occasionally gave each other a nudge. Typical brother-sister things.
It was memories like that, that made me grateful to have an older brother like Ethan to grow up with and look up to. Yes, we may argue and get mad at each other almost every day but if anything were to happen to him I would be devastated and I know it'd be the same for him.
I walked down the hall a bit more when I saw another picture. It was of me and my father having a father-daughter dance at my Aunt Lori's wedding. I must've been about 5 or 6 years old when it was taken because of how short I was. My father was in a blue suit and I was the flower girl so I was in a light baby blue dress that went a little below my knees and my hair was curled and pinned up into some sort of bun-like hairstyle with a small butterfly bobby pin.
"I'd like to welcome all of the fathers and their daughters to the dance floor for the father-daughter dance." The DJ announced.
My dad stood up then held his hand out and said "Well Kira love, that's us. Time to show everyone our dance moves!" then winked. I giggled and held his hand as we walked toward the dance floor.
We walked past Aunt Lori and Grandpa as they danced slowly in circles. I noticed a small butterfly in Aunt Lori's hair. I let go of my father's hand and ran to her and tapped her arm. She knelt to meet me eye to eye.
"Hi sweetie," she said.
"Aunt Lori, uh– I think there's a butterfly in your hair," I said pointing to the bobby pin.
She pulled it out of her hair "What this old thing?" said holding it in her hand. I looked at it and smiled then I looked at her. "You know what sweetie, you have it! I'm sure it looks way better on you!" she said as she stuck it in my hair.
I looked at her and said "Thank you!" with a small giggle then skipped over to my dad again. I stepped on his toes and held his hands as he guided us in a slow circle.
"Well that's a very pretty butterfly you got there!" he said.
I looked up at him and said "Thanks! It's my favourite!" I giggled.
"I love it!" he said. He picked me up and spun me around then knelt on his knees and said "You see Aunt Lori?" I nodded.
"Well, that's going to be you one day. In a white dress marrying the perfect boy!" he said.
"Eww, boys!" I wrinkled my nose at him.
He tapped my nose and said "That's right! Boys are icky!" We both laughed then he stood up then started to dance and I joined him.
Wiggling my little body and moving my arm in the disco move, I moved around the whole dance floor going from one person to another. I danced so much that I fell asleep on the car ride home.
I smiled at the picture and then thought about how grateful I am for my whole family. They will be there for me through everything I do and will never leave. They are my biggest supporters. They will always be the most important thing in my life. I walked downstairs and into the kitchen. The sun was shining through the large window making the whole kitchen seem calming and pleasant.
"Good morning Kira!" my mom said from across the island counter.
"Morning!" I smiled. I sat next to my brother and smiled. He smiled back. For the rest of the day, I was in a great mood and kept thinking about all the memories my family and I shared.
