In my life, I’ve had many life lessons. Some are more valuable than others. One of my life lessons I remember the most is letting my brother drive me on the inner tube.
It was a hot summer day, and we had rented a lake house on Lake Gladewater for my brother’s graduation in ’07. We had many family members there and we were out on the lake just about all day. We had balloon slingshots, water-skiing wars, inner tube battles, homemade Indian Tea that could make anyone’s taste buds tingle, and a lot of other fun activities. But, the thing I remember the most is going inner tubing with just me, my mom, my dad, my brothers Josh and Taylor, and my twin sister Makenzie. It was about 5:30, and we were just about ready to go to the “house” and get some food. It had been a long day at the lake, and we were tired from all the fun that day. Then I said,” Mom, can I go on the inner tube one last time before it gets too dark?” She said yes and I hopped on the tube while Taylor hooked on the rope to the back of the boat so I wouldn’t wander out to the middle of the lake. I heard my dad yell over the roar of the motor,” Allison, are you ready?” I hollered back,” YES!!! ” Then I felt the boat tug harder than what my dad usually did, and took off faster than what he normally did too. I looked up to see what he was doing, and all I saw was the face of my brother Josh laughing his head off at me. That got me mad, so I thought to myself,” Haha! He thinks he can get the best of me. Well I‘ll show him who’s better at inner tubing!!!!”
He went around the lake a couple of times without hitting many waves. This wasn’t the usual Josh so I was wondering what in the world is he planning for me now? Then, I knew. He revved up the motor and took of like a mad man. We went in circles, and hit HUGE waves that were taller than I was, or at least they felt like they were. Then, I looked up and saw the biggest wave I have ever seen made by a boat our size. I looked at Josh, and he had an evil grin on his face saying,” Hahaha! Look at that wave over there! I’m going to go over it just for you!” He knew I hated big waves like that, but, the unexpected happened. He made a sharp, quick turn, and threw me outside the wake. Then he took off straight for the waves. I was freaking out, but I had to show him who’s better, so I held on. As we neared the waves, it seemed as if they got bigger and bigger. Then, I hit them. I remember my head hitting the inner tub so hard, that I thought I was going to get knocked out. I went like 5-10 feet in the air, and hit with such a force, that if I was knocked out, it would have woke me up! When I was still on after that, I looked at Josh, and you should’ve seen the look on his face! Talk about surprised! I told him I was done, and he stopped the motor. My dad pulled me in, and the rest of the ride back, we were all quiet. When we got back to the “house”, I, of course, bragged on how I stayed on. No one believed me until Josh told all.
This is an important life lesson to me because it showed me to be sure I look who’s driving before I get on the inner tube, and escpecially never let your older brothe drive you! I wanted to show off to my brother, and I guess I did. It’s also an important life lesson because now, I can brag about It for the rest of my life, and he can’t say no you didn’t!