The waves of the dark blue ocean come crashing down on the sand covered shores at the beach. Sun in the sky, dunes built up high, all was well in Seaside Park, New Jersey. Small, shiny, red crabs waddled across the beach shores, not a cloud in the sky. Hundreds of suntan lotion covered people lining the shores with a plethora of beach gear including shovels, umbrellas, and coolers. Right in front of Ocean Drive, lay my family, right next to the large white painted lifeguard boat. We set out for the beach a few hours back, carrying food for the day, and everything else we needed to have a nice relaxing day. Sitting from my rainbow beach chair on the shore, the ocean seemed to be one thing: perpetual blue waves in every direction. On that warm July afternoon, it had seemed like everything had slowed down, and all troubles had suddenly gone away. However, I was unaware of the events that would transpire later that afternoon.

As I lay on the beach, I did not think about the current moment, or the future, but the past. All of the times I had laid in that same exact spot tanning, all of the times I biked past the bay, watching the sun set, and all of the photos I had capturing these moments in my life. Breathtaking sunsets, high flying kites, towering red and white lighthouses. The beautiful sights which I had seen over the years began to come back to me. All at one place: down the shore. The people I met, the sights I had seen, and the places I had been. The bell of the italian ice truck screeched across the beach, bringing me back to reality. My mom came over and asked what I wanted to eat for lunch. I was feeling like a sandwich, so that is what I said. I took a sip of my soda to cool off a bit as my mom went to fetch my brother, Nick, and I something to eat. After lunch, I figured that I would head into the water and do what I loved the most: surfing.

After lunch, I began to put on my wetsuit, ready to hit some waves. Still wet from the morning, I pulled the moist suit up over my feet, then my wet bathing suit. I called over my brother to help me zip up the back of it. I could hear the crashing of the waves as he zipped up my suit. The ocean is so vast and mysterious, is what I thought as he was finishing up. Once I heard the sound of the wetsuit zipping up, I grabbed my board, and ran to the water, all excited to what I had been waiting for all day. My long, lengthy steps took me into the water in a matter of seconds, and I began to feel the salty, cool ocean water surround my body. As my toes went further in the water, I could feel the shells clanging against them as waves rolled in and crashed, one after another. I then hopped on my board, and began to paddle out further. Left right left right, my arms swung back and forth. I turned my board around, and began to search for the right wave. In the distance, I saw the white peak beginning to form, and I thought, this is my wave. I watched as it came in closer, and I began to paddle. Quickly, I got on my knees and popped to my feet, staying balanced on my board. I looked back at the wave as it came even closer in, and I could feel it as the wave began to push me forwards. I continued on until I reached the shore, and I did this for a while. Finally finished, after about 2 hours of surfing, I jogged back up to my gear, and began to take off my wetsuit, which was now soaked in water. I took it off, and threw it on top of my sand covered board, and I grabbed my towel to dry off. I sat in my chair and looked for my phone to check the time. I asked my Dad if he had seen it, but he hastily replied no, and I began to look around. In my bag, in the sand, I even ran up to our house to look for it, but it was not to be found. There was only one place it could be: the ocean, and that meant it was gone. The ocean displays how there are unending changes or waves that swipe things away. Although all of these precious memories were now gone, it helped me move on, and realize life is about going forwards, not dwelling on the past. In essence, the ocean taking something from me helped me move on, and it helped me to grasp the fact that one must focus on the future and upcoming events, and to create new memories in new places.