My mom disappeared when I was 8 years old, and the last time I saw her side of the family was when I was five years old. When I was 15, I finally got on a plan to go to Brenham Texas and see the family I hadn’t seen in about 10 years. I arrived in Houston Texas and saw my grandma and ran into her arms. It was about a two hour drive back to Brenham Texas. I told her about how my dad was doing and how my big brother was doing as well. The family down in Texas only kept in touch with me since I resembled my mom so much and I was almost all they had left of her. Since I had seen them last, my grandpa had died, and one of my uncles as well. This was the first time I had seen all four of my uncles since I was five, and all of my cousins as well.
â–º QUARTER FINALIST 2012 TEEN TRAVEL WRITING SCHOLARSHIP
They treated me like I had never left and I got to meet two new adopted cousins who were exactly like family. Two summers later, this past summer, I went back down again. Since the last time, my one uncle had three strokes, another had 2 surgeries and my grandma was moving around taking care of all of them. This time I stayed with my four boy cousins, my grandma, my uncle bill & my aunt serena. On my second day there I got to see all of my cousins yet again, and meet a bunch of their new friends since the last time.
One person stuck out over everyone else. His name was Tanner Randermann. When I went out to meet him, he stepped out of his truck and my mouth completely dropped. We talked and talked and he completely changed his plans for that night so we could be around each other. Every day after that, we saw each other. We would go to the lake during the day and stay all night, and he would take me out to eat with the rest of my crazy family as well. We went to the movies together as well. In a matter of two weeks, I had fallen head over heels for Tanner. I know it sounds so completely ridiculous, but I felt like I was living in a Nicholas Sparks love story. We stayed out till 2 or 3 AM every night, and would get together during the day as soon as we could during the day. My aunt and uncle loved the idea, but the fact that I was leaving in a few days really got to Tanner and I. My last night in Texas rolled around and we went to the lake like usual with all four of my cousins and their girlfriends and friends. We had a few trucks lined up right by the water, and we watched the stars all night. We were around a bonfire as we laughed all night long and talked about every little thing that came to our minds. Eventually things died down and I walked off towards the water to stare at the stars and Tanner came behind me. We watched a falling star together, and promised we’d find each other again someday and that no matter what we knew we loved each other.
My trip to Brenham Texas both times were the most memorable things I’ve ever done in my life and I wouldn’t trade either trip for the world.
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