Crossing the Curtis Creek is a tradition that is bound to happen whenever my cousins are together. From sitting down at the dinner table, laughing so hard the apple juice spews out of my mouth, to going down to the creek and crossing it one by one, every time we are together, every room we walk in is filled with limitless laughter. The most insignificant moments with them hold a special place in my memories, and they seem to come alive when we are together. The Curtis Creek—a name originating from my grandpa Curtis—is something my cousins have heard about for our entire lives. The creek at my grandparents’ house is something my cousins and I always thought was one of a kind, and eventually, we had to explore it.
Going over to my grandparents’ house with my cousins is always entertaining. While we are there, we live outside, and we visit the creek constantly. It has become a tradition to explore the creek and the surrounding woods until sunset almost every week in the summer, when we get together. We used to beg our parents to walk down to the creek, and since we were young, we kept exploring the woods, more and more, until we were old enough to go down to the creek. Both of my cousins’ reckless, show-off personalities make every trip down to the creek amusing but also problematic. Countless times of falling into the three-foot-deep waters from wrestling on a thin branch make every trip to the creek unforgettable.
My brother and I always heard of our cousins living in California, and we went to visit them a couple of times, but we never knew them until they moved. They moved to Michigan when they were two and four years old. When we started getting to know them, we clicked immediately. Starting early, we went on countless vacations as a big family, which shaped our relationship. They became such an important part of my life, from heart-to-heart talks at Curtis Creek to volleyball lessons in our driveways; my cousins are always nearby. I am always the first person Ana invites to her birthday parties, even though I am three years older than her. Trips continue to be the building blocks for our bond, but we create new memories everywhere–especially at the Curtis Creek. As we all get older, the walks to the creek will fade, but the memories will still be alive.
