On the Shoreline of Lake Superior: A Personal Narrative

As we traveled down M-28, something in the distance catches our eyes.

“What is that Mommy?” my daughter Grace asks.

“I’m not sure. It looks kind of like a kite. Should we stop and watch it for a bit?” I asked.

A loud chorus of “yes” echoed through the car. So slowly I began to pull into a roadside park, the wind whipping our hair around as we exit the car. I notice the waves. I have never seen Lake Superior with so many white caps at once. The waves were large and intimidating. And then suddenly a flash of color diverts my attention to the right. It is not a kite, but a trio parasailing. Their energy is boundless and their parachutes bold with color. My kids and I watch from the top of the stairs. I realize that we need to get a closer look.

We descend to the beach as the parasailers show off their acrobatics. For this isn’t the parasailing that I have come to know. This is an individual with a sort of small surf board attached to his feet and a parachute attached to his back. With every flip and soar we squeal with delight. Slowly they end their surfing and we stroll along the shoreline.

Grace and Alex continue the enthusiasm and begin to run. Just as I yell, “Walk. If you run you might fall in the water,” Alex topples over into the lake. He is now soaked head to toe. I think to myself, but we are not done with our day of adventure. Now he is wet and our time is going to be cut short. I begin to feel myself get frustrated at this and then I take a deep breath. As I breathe deeply, I realize that life is an adventure that is to be lived to the fullest each and every day. And although there is no spilled milk, just wet kids, this is no reason to end the time together. So as I round up the kids I say to them, “Well I guess we will have to stop and Shopko to get Alex some dry clothes, unless of course you’d like to bring our adventure to an end now.” And with a resounding “NO” the kids and I make our way back to the car. We continue down the road toward Marquette where we will stop in and make our purchase. Once all involved are dry again, we will make continue our adventure and create wonderful memories along the way.

I wrote this personal narrative in a class I had today about teaching children how to write personal narratives. It was wonderful practice for me since this is not typically a strength of mine. I look forward to sharing more of what I learn in the series of classes through a series of hubs to come and hope that you will be able to take some ideas back to your classroom to use with your students.