Memories of Summers Spent in Rhode Island

People watching at the beach. 

I always get a certain anxiety/excitement going back to school. Getting a fresh start and seeing all of your friends is always nice, but then everything hits you out of nowhere and suddenly you barely have time to breathe. During the times that I am most stressed, especially at the beginning of the school year, I like to look back fondly at my summer memories.

I like to describe my time spent during the months of June and July as the epitome of an American summer. Ice cream at the beach, picnic dinners of hamburgers and hotdogs, reading, and lots and lots of sunscreen, but mainly sunburns. I spend all of my summers in Rhode Island with my extended family on my mom’s side. All of the cousins, great uncles and aunts, and grandparents reside on a street: Cliff Avenue. I always think that what happens on Cliff Ave. during the summer would make the ultimate story for a New York Times bestselling novel, which would then turn into an Oscar Award winning movie.

The water at sunset.

Some of my craziest and best memories are from my summers spent in Rhode Island. One of my favorite memories is watching the 4th of July Fireworks on a bridge over the water where you can see all sides of the town. There would be about 10 different firework shows happening at the same time. Also, when my cousins and I all trek to the library and each get about 6 books. My all-time favorite days in the summer are Sundays. We all go to church and then head to Dunkin’ Donuts and maybe go quahogging (digging for clams) later when it’s low tide. I usually roll my eyes when people are like, “Oh yeah, it’s so nice to disconnect from the world blah blah blah,” but I have to admit it is nice to just read some books and have some banter on the porch after some ice cream.

It’s truly the simple things - and I kind of hate myself for how cheesy that sounds - but it’s the truth!