I Wish Someone Had Told Me . .

"I don’t want to go on vacation with you, I want to stay home and spend the last weekend of the summer with my friends." This was the newest argument between me and my mother. Arguing was something that had gone on at many different times during the course of that particular summer. It was the summer before 10th grade, and I was convinced it had been the best experience of my life. And I was mortified when my mother told me I had to miss the last two days of camp to go on a boring vacation with my FAMILY. "How dare you, why would you make me go with you when I don’t want to, I want to stay home with dad, you can’t make me go, I REFUSE." I was dead set on winning this argument. "There is no way I'm going to miss camp to spend a weekend in wildwood. I'll be bored." I was convinced this vacation wouldn’t be worth it, and I wouldn’t get to say good-bye to my friends.
"Friends will come and go, but your family will always be there for you." Probably the best piece of advice I have ever received in my life (Besides not to take a box to my head), although at the time I never would have believed that my mother could be right. This was her answer to the fit I threw when she tried to "force" me to go on vacation with her. She was hurt, upset, and angry that I did not want to spend time with her. She had been planning this weekend for months, and would not get her deposit back for the house that she had rented for my family to spend the weekend in. But I won, as I usually did, and was allowed to stay behind with my father while my mom and the rest of my family went off to have fun in New Jersey.
At the time, I was ecstatic. I didn’t have to sit through a long boring car ride, or spend time with my mother or brother. I was going to stay with my new friends and enjoy the last two days of camp. And then summer would be over and my friends and I would keep in touch and be best friends forever - or so I thought. For the time being, I was glad to have skipped my only vacation of the summer. My family was boring, and it was uncool to be seen with them.
Time went by and school began. Camp ended and to my absolute shock, my friends and I did not keep in touch. My mother never let me forget that I skipped my vacation to spend time with people who I thought were the most wonderful in the world, and to this day, I am still reminded of how selfish I was being.
"Blood is thicker than water." A famous saying. I never believed it was true, and often preferred to spend time with my friends instead of my family. My groups of friends have changed countless times since that summer, and I have learned my lesson the hard way. You will always have a few good friends in life, but many friendships. Friends will come and go, but your family is forever. Your family will always forgive you, and always be there for you when you need them. No friendship can replace this. I have finally figured this out.. and will never miss out on a family vacation again.