The sound of my brother’s laugh spreads and makes me have the biggest smile. Heat from the bright sun got me burning up, but soft, chilly waves of the ocean would rise towards me. Sand caressing my legs as I push my feet in, my brother is filling up his bucket with water and sand with full concentration. Behind me, my family are either sleeping, on their phones, or sharing funny stories. These are memories I can’t take for granted, I feel right at home.

Last summer, within the last 2 weeks of August, I have spent my time in Ankara, Turkey. My father and stepmother’s side of the family mostly live in different areas of Turkey. Every summer, my dad, my stepmom, and I would use free time to see our family. Now we have a new member on the crew, my brother, Ali, he’s included into our trips. This year was a little different, not only my family came, my older cousin, aunt, and uncle came with us.

For one week, I was in Ankara, my family and I went to the city, walked around the village, at the end, we went to a wedding for a close family member.  The next morning, we woke up early to get ready and catch our plane going to Bodrum. The flight was only for two hours, I listened to music and read my book, “An Abundance of Katherines,” by John Green. As soon as we landed in Bodrum, we took a taxi minivan that will take us to the hotel we were staying for the week. The hotel in Bodrum was absolutely gorgeous, on the balcony, you have a clear view of the bright, aqua pool, and the beautiful beach. You can see people swimming, playing ball in the water, doing water sports, I just couldn’t wait to go.

As my family and I waited for our hotel room to be ready, we saw our close family friends come in. They were also staying in Bodrum, except for a shorter time than us. We were all sitting and talking about what’s been going on in each other’s lives. Once both families’ rooms were ready, we have decided to meet at the beach and spend our day there. My parents, Ali, my cousin, and I were staying in a suite which had two separate rooms. My cousin, Gulgen, and I shared a room together, we put our bags away and enjoyed our view of the pool from our little balcony. I remember sitting down on one of the two chairs and just enjoying what was in front of me, I couldn’t get used to it.

After a little bit of getting settled in, my family and I headed to the beach to spend time with our family friends. Our friends came a little earlier than us, so they were able to get a spot in the shade and near the water. We dropped our things and laid out our towels on our chairs, then we ran to the water. I see my friends, Erem and Aksel, with their father playing volleyball, Gulgen, my dad and I decided to play with them. Following us behind were my stepmom, the boys’ mother, and Ali, walking hand in hand. We spent our time in the water, swimming, playing, and sitting on the sand with Ali while he plays with it. I remember seeing Ali’s bright smile as we did our little activities. His smile is something that I never want to see go away.

Later on the day, all of us decided to eat dinner and spend the rest of the night together. My friends’ parents and mine went to sit somewhere else and talked, while the kids the same. Gulgen and Aksel would be on their phones, looking through social media and playing games, as Erem and I talked. These two boys felt like brothers to me, but I felt closer to Erem because he’s my age, I could talk to him about anything. The rest of the night, Erem and I talked about the difficulties of school, what we want to do in the future, and other things that have been going on for us. I felt so relaxed and calm with Erem, I have forgotten I had more things to do while I’m in Turkey. We also shared funny moments that happened to each other, as I see him smile and laugh, it makes me remember the time we were young and had a barbeque at his house. After seeing him many years later, it made me realize how time went so fast.

It was getting late, everyone was feeling so worn out, I was as well feeling sleepy. We decided to say goodnight, plan what we are doing the next day, and head into our rooms. When Gulgen and I got into ours, both of us jumped onto our beds and talked about our first time being in Bodrum. Spending the day with everyone was eventful, the smiles and laughs everyone shared made me so happy. I kept replaying the moments in my head as I went to sleep and saw them in my dreams. I’m grateful to have the ones who I love with me in the country I have many childhood memories at.

The hardest goodbyes are to the ones we never want to say to. At the end of my trip, my parents, Gulgen, aunt, and I packed all of our belongings and were on our way to head home in America. It was our last time all of us are together as a family. Everyone was crying and holding each other tight, not knowing when’s the next time we will see each other. I saw all my family on my grandmother’s porch as we were in the car, waving goodbye and saying well wishes. On the way to the airport, I was still crying and played the memories again like it was a movie. I have learned to never take time with my family for granted. My two weeks have washed away, time passed so quickly, I thought I had another week to spend. Everyday, I always think about Turkey, hoping everyone is safe and okay. Those memories will always be valuable and engraved into my heart.