That day in June sticks in my mind as the worst day of my life, but on that day, I found my safe haven; Hopkinton State Park. I ventured to the park after my first ‘real’ funeral, to get away from all the stress, grieving, and drama filled house I had returned to. In my last year of middle school my best friend passed away after a long battle with cancer. Lung, Pancreatic, and brain cancer; that horrendous six-letter word that ends so many peoples lives too short. It spread through his body like a wildfire, and if you know anything about wildfires they are ridiculously contagious and sadly cannot be put out. Following the funeral, my house filled with somber relatives, crying aunts, and children that played because of not knowing the severity of the day. Leaving my house was the only thing I could do to ease the pain; I needed to get away. I quickly put my puppy in the car and drove. I drove until I came to the State Park that I had passed many times before, out on my left blinker, and pulled in. I spent the rest of the day simply sitting on the beach, think and writing about my uncle and all the memorable times we had together.

Over the past couple of years Hopkinton State Park has become my second home. I go there to watch the trees change colors, to watch the lake freeze over, and to just think. It’s become a safe haven or me when I have nowhere else to go. I can go there when my parents are fighting, when I’ve gotten in trouble, I can just go there to relieve and shake the tensions of the day. There is something peacefully unexplainable about this park that can ease my mind in just mere minutes. Something about sitting on a beach, cold or hot, staring out across the placid lake, and just thinking; meditating over anything from a simple homework assignment I missed, to thinking about life itself. It’s become a place where I can capture photos, write in my journal, or craft a story in my mind. In that park I am not Lindsay the eighteen-year-old senior, who’s ready for life to start, but in that park I am Lindsay the photographer, the screenwriter, the adventurer, and oh so much more. Someone who can be whoever they want to be, just by stepping through the gates of a serene state park. The park has transformed me and helped me to discern who I am and who I want to be, and for that I m grateful.