august 2024
“A vacation is not just a time to escape, but a chance to collect a treasure trove of memories that will last a lifetime.”
This summer’s vacation was long overdue. We haven’t been to Cape Cod since 2019 due to life… you know how it goes. Covid, summer travel lacrosse, work, etc. And with my parents leaving their retirement haven and moving back to Ohio, getting up to the Cape is a bit more complicated without having their home as a base. It meant that we all had to find rentals. But that certainly didn’t keep me, or any of my family, away from our favorite place.
Have you ever been somewhere that makes you so happy and content, no matter the weather? A place that feels like home, even though it’s not?
For me, that’s Cape Cod. Maybe it’s because I’ve been going there since I was 8, but I know where everything is, I kn0w exactly what to expect, and it is my exact happy place. A pure sense of peace and familiarity washes over me the moment I arrive. And that’s what I need on a vacation at this point in my life.
There’s something about the salty and humid air, the sound of the waves, the feel of sand beneath my toes, and the small, charming towns that make everything else fade away. A place of solace where the world slows down just enough for me to catch my breath. A place where I can vacation with intention.
This time, though, there was a bittersweet undertone. My parents, affectionately known as Nonna and Doodad, could not join us. My father’s recent diagnosis of stage two bladder cancer, and the chemo and radiation treatments, kept him and my mother back in Ohio. Not a fight that any child wants to see their parent go through.
It would be the first time the rest of the family made the trip without them… not what any of us wanted to happen. The Cape has always been a place where we come together as a family, and not having them there felt like a piece of the experience was missing. But they insisted we all go without them and continue creating new memories.
My husband and our three children, along with my brother, his wife, and their children and spouses, headed up to the Cape where we had rented two homes for a week. The days were not all sunny and the temperature not as warm as we wanted, but our time there was filled with lots of laughter, continuous activity, and ended with family meals where we exchanged stories from past vacations on the Cape.
Each of us brought a different personality and dynamic to the vacation, which made it all the more interesting. This blend of perspectives added a lot of variety to our daily activities and a reminder of why Cape Cod has always been so special to our family.
While we each have our own unique experiences and memories of vacationing on the Cape, what unites us is our shared love for it.
There were a lot of emotions swirling in my head and heart this vacation. It’s a true circle-of-life moment when you’re sipping a cocktail on the beach with your 25-year-old son and niece, who used to wear each other’s bathing suits when they were five. Or when you’re introducing fried clams to your kids at Sesuit Harbor, watching whales breach out of the ocean in Provincetown, or using the infamous outdoor shower after a day at the beach, the same one you’ve used during the forty-plus times you’ve vacationed on the Cape.
Bike rides and walks on the paths, rafts on Sheep’s Pond, low tide at Mayflower Beach, riding the waves on Bank Street, shopping at Sativa’s, Georges’ pizza, Sundae School Ice Cream, clam chowder at Squires, and shopping in Chatham—these were our favorites as kids, and they continue to be cherished by us as adults.
The snapshots we take each year might be familiar, but the experiences continue to expand, grow, and change with each time our toes are in the sand on Cape Cod. And every new member of our family who is introduced to the Cape finds themselves falling in love with our little slice of paradise off the coast of Massachusetts.
Our family has faith and my father has the strength that is imperative to beat cancer. Life still has too much for both of them to experience and be a part of. So, next summer Nonna and Doodad will return to Cape Cod with all of us. The beaches will still be roaring, the hydrangeas still beautiful, the clam chowder still delicious, and the air still humid and salty. A solace place where we don’t expect or need to change. From the moment we cross the Bourne Bridge, we’ll be welcomed by the traditions we know and love, along with the promise of creating new memories that can only be made on the Cape.
“May you always have a shell in your pocket and sand between your toes.”
