Adventures in Tahoe

by Gaby Ross

“Suddenly, our normally quiet family is so loud that the neighbors have to ask us to settle down.”

Lake Tahoe is how my whole family connects. We're all so different individually, but when we come to Tahoe, everything changes. Suddenly, I'd rather laugh and joke with my brothers than lock myself in my room. Suddenly, our normally quiet family is so loud that the neighbors have to ask us to settle down. Suddenly, we're blasting music and roasting marshmallows rather than watching TV—or skiing all day, not going to school. It's a new world, looking out your window and seeing piles of fresh snow, as opposed to concrete, breathing in the freshest air, drinking the coldest water. It's an escape from all worries.

We go to Tahoe all the time. So I hadn't even realized I was taking it for granted. Once when we were out skiing, it had been snowing nonstop for days, and we knew it would be one of the best ski days of the whole year. My brothers and I were daring each other to go off higher jumps, go down steeper hills, and race each other to the bottom, never looking back. We would push each other into the deep snow and stay out all night having the craziest snowball fights of our entire life. These are the moments I wouldn't trade for the world. I never felt so free in my entire life.

I hadn't known that a feeling like that could exist. A feeling of pure happiness. Tahoe is our element. It's a place where my brothers and I can fully be ourselves. As we grew up, I became the one pushing to make sure that our weekends in Tahoe still existed. I knew that without my constant nagging, we would start going less and less often until maybe it was just for winter break. But I started to realize that to ask week after week for my whole family to stop what they were doing and come to Tahoe wasn't as simple as it used to be.

This year is different. My older brother moved out, and we just don't have as much time to go to Tahoe. Only now do I realize how much I had really gained from those weekends and how much I miss that feeling. I had to learn that over time, things do change, as much as we all wish we could stop time. No one wants to grow up. No one wants their siblings leaving, moving out, or not to have as much free time as they used to. But, it's just out of our control. I learned only to try to control what I know I can control.

I cannot control if we will be going to Tahoe or not. But once we're there, I can control my experience. I can control what Tahoe will continue to mean to me. And so I will. Tahoe will always be a second home to me. It is a place where I can be myself, have no worries, and laugh like there's no tomorrow. It's a place that I know I can always go back to no matter where I am in life. And it's a place where I've made memories with my family I will cherish for the rest of my life.