dr. sharina smith

While chatting with work colleagues in Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, and Tennessee before we all left for the long Memorial Day weekend, many said they were going to The Lake or to The River. I said my husband and I were going to The Lake, too.

These conversations reminded me of my early days at Bryn Mawr College when we were all getting to know one another, and I mentioned that I grew up floating The River and going camping at The Lake. When my new girlfriends asked me which river and which lake, I had no idea. We didn’t have Google Maps back then, so I couldn’t even look it up.

Even though I have Google now, I still really don’t remember, but I asked my husband while we were enjoying a sunny day on Stockton Lake, which river and lakes did we enjoy as kids? I took notes so I could share the info with you, because I knew I wouldn’t remember.

Where we grew up, there was only one river he and I floated, and he said it was the North Fork of the White River. We ascertained that it was probably Lake Norfork that my family and I regularly camped, fished, boated, and tubed, because I mentioned Fout Boat Dock, and my husband said that was the lake.

We chatted about a few of the other lakes we had frequented as kids, and smiled at the memory of our first steamy camping trip at Bidwell Point in Arkansas. I was 18 and he was 21, and I had told my mom that I would be sleeping in the tent with his sister. Thinking back, I’m sure she knew better, but I was an adult, after all.

Some of my best lake and river memories are from trips to Lake Michigan, some lakes in Minnesota, some lakes and rivers near Philadelphia, a very cold little inlet (from a river or lake?) in the Catskill Mountains, and another very cold river in British Columbia.

My core lake and river memories are from the Ozarks, where I was raised, but one of the most special lakes to me became Lake Waveland, where my brother and his wife finally bought his long-dreamed about permanent house on the lake. His boat was docked just a short way from his back deck, and he could fish every day if he wanted. The lake view from his deck was beautiful.

My husband and I, and some of our adult kids, had many fun trips to Lake Waveland, or as I teased my brother, The Lake in the middle of the cornfields. My brother loved fireworks, so we boomed and blasted our way through several July 4th weekends at his house, rivalling the official lake fireworks, and we had some fun jaunts on his beloved fishing boat.

My brother died earlier this year after a two-year, hard-fought battle against cancer. It broke my heart when he became too sick to get his new pontoon boat docked and ready to roll. A kind neighbor let him fish from his dock, which was larger and more sturdy for my brother as he became weaker.

As kids, he was my lake buddy. We shared a tent, and I would follow him to the shoreline every morning as he fished. I liked to fish, but he loved to fish. I was just as happy reading a book or watching the water go by as I enjoyed his company.

I didn’t even think to ask my work colleagues which lakes and rivers they were heading toward, since I knew it didn’t matter. If you have The Lake or The River in your life, and someone with whom to share the adventures, you are blessed. The light will play on the water, and you will smile at the memories.