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Cliffs of Moher, Lislorkan North, County Clare, Ireland

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Another place that holds deep significance to me is the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland. In general, Ireland is a place I hold close to my heart. My entire family lives there and whenever I get to see and or visit them, it makes it a moment I want to cherish forever. My family is huge and chaotic, all of which I love. Having 9 aunts, 4 uncles, and an endless amount of cousins, I would not trade it for the world. Especially because traveling is expensive for a family of 7, going home to see them a lot is challenging.

The Cliffs of Moher captures a view of beauty. I have been there multiple times, and each and every time it is breathtaking. I remember the first time I saw these magnificent cliffs. Getting out of the car, all I could remember was the wicked wind and cold air. I could already tell my hair was going to be very matted when I got back to the car. We started to walk from the parking lot, up on my tippy toes, I could see the tip of the view. Walking over in my bright neon green/yellow raincoat at the age of, I think 5 or 6, I felt many different things, one of which was excitement.

The Cliffs of Moher are multiple cliffs looking over the water in Munster, a town in County Clare. Not being able to see that well gave my dad the idea to pick me up and plant me on the edge of the wall, along with my 4 siblings. As soon as I sat up on the wall, I felt something. I took a deep breath and was thinking about how grateful I was at that very moment. I was so grateful to be able to capture this breathtaking view with my own eyes. I thought about the joyous moments when being able to see my family, friends, and Ireland itself. The joyous green popped my eyes, as it swelled around me. That was my moment of joy, a moment of overwhelming gratitude.

Every time I go to Ireland, I fall in love with it all over again. Leaving family and friends for 5 years is hard and shatters my heart. That feeling of joy keeps me going, but it is hard because in that moment, it becomes harder and harder to leave every time. Embracing Ireland and everything I love about it all in that moment knocks down the flood gate. A rush of emotions, happiness, sadness, curiosity, and everything else. But, I also knew within that moment that it will be here for me when I come back. Those cliffs will have waited for me, to embrace Ireland and everything I see valuable in it. That moment makes my love for Ireland become bigger and bigger, if that’s even possible.

To this day, it is one of the most beautiful things I have ever been able to see, lucky to have seen it with my own eyes.

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The beautiful state of Vermont. Vermont is another one of my happy places. Going to Vermont is escaping my head, escaping social media. My family doesn’t ski, so we go up there in the summer and fall. Whether it was 3 day weekend trips or a week long vacation, we always had fun. Waking up to the brisk air, the fresh smell of rain, and the beautiful mountains, was like no other. We typically go to Ludlowe, Vermont. Our days consisted of taking a required trip to the country store for lunch, taking the lifts up to the top of the mountain, venturing to new towns, going to the lake, going cliff jumping in buttermilk falls, and then coming back to the house to finish our night with either a movie, the hot tub, or playing all different kinds of card games. Some trips we would go with other families, and most trips we would go with just us. Going there more than once a year since I was 8, many memories have been made.

For example, this one time we woke up and were playing cards as we ate our breakfast. My mom comes downstairs and starts to ask if anyone has seen her wedding rings. She said she had put them on her night stand the night before and now they are gone. At this point my entire family is scrimmaging around trying to find these rings. My mom is convinced someone broke in and stole them, which wouldn’t make sense because we were in the house all night. My dad checked the security cameras and there was no one. So for some reason, our next idea was to go to a pawn shop. The closest shop was 20 miles away, so we started our adventure.
We went to at least three different stores and they weren’t there. We then moved on to the idea that my dog had somehow eaten them, so we went to the vet. We anxiously waited, and she didn’t even eat them. At this point we were out of ideas. As we were near defeat, my dad thought about the garbage that we had previously thrown out at the communal dumpster. It was our last option, so we had to try it. We went to the dumpsters and my dad had to dumpster dive. This may seem easy right? Wrong, each house within this community had the same garbage bags. Somehow my dad had managed to get out 2 big bags after a long 20 minutes. We went back to the house and my parents started to dissect the bags. While they were doing that, my siblings and I continued to look around the house for the millionth time.
All of a sudden we heard a burst of laughter and excitement. We ran downstairs and my mom was there holding her rings. Turns out, she managed to wrap her rings in her snotty tissues. At that moment, my entire family burst out into laughter for 15 continuous minutes. Although it was a pain in the butt to drive around all day long, we were all in it together.

Another memory from Vermont is from a hike we had taken on one of those conjoined family trips. One morning we all got up early, except for the moms. As the dads took all of the kids out, we drove all the way up to the top of the mountain we were staying on. We got out of the cars and began our hike. It was just about 20 mins to the view. Before we saw the view, we saw a trail with what looked like a stakeout tower a few meters over. We went through the woods and arrived at the bottom of this tower. I immediately went up as others hesitated. The stairs were very steep and some got half way up, got too scared, and turned around. I was the first one to get to the top and my breath was immediately taken away. The view was gorgeous. At that moment I had a rush of adrenaline. The view made me feel alive. It made me realize how happy I was to be in that moment. It kind of made me realize how much we miss looking at technology and going on social media. Embracing the moment makes it last longer.

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Fashion show with the people I consider siblings (from left to right, Hannah, Conor, my brother, Chloe, Rachael, my sister, Katelyn, and myself)

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One thing about me is that I was born and raised in Stamford. Stamford was a place I called home for 13 years of my life. My parents welcomed me with open arms in the hospital, going home to my two older siblings, Conor and Rachael. My dad built our precious house all by himself, not a single help. He worked like a mad person, throughout the 9 months I was in my mom’s stomach. This house on Ridgewood Avenue was the first place I ever called home. Home with 4 walls, a roof, and my family. I had many joyous memories and some not so much, created on that property.

Growing up sharing a room with my sister Ella. We spent endless nights staying up late, talking, to the point where my parents threatened to send us outside because we wouldn’t go to bed. We always had a doll of some sort in our hands, pretending to play anywhere from ‘airport’ to ‘family’ and all in between. Sometimes my little brother came in, begging to play with us, but we only allowed girls in. So, he resorted to changing his name from Dylan to Chloe and wearing a dress. He always made us laugh when he looked like a clown, but we eventually allowed him to come in and sit on a chair in the corner. But, some of my favorite nights were spent in my parents bed with all 5 of myself, and my siblings, watching our 9 pm tv program Full House, since we were little.

When the sun was shining, we always spent our days outside, rolling down the hill in our big backyard. From jumping on the trampoline, swinging on the hammock, playing on the swingset, and swinging from the rope on the tree. We played in our “secret hideout” which was just a sheltered area of trees. Our summer nights were spent swinging on the bench on our front porch, hearing the crickets chirp. We often played manhunt, hide and go seek, or just talked with a bunch of neighborhood kids. And in the winter, we would all lay in my front yard with our scarves and coats, with our tongues out, tasting the snow. When it got to the point of not being able to feel our legs or hands anymore, we went inside for my mom's famous Irish hot chocolate.

Our house was the cornerstone of our neighborhood. Everyone was always excited to see the Halloween decorations, and the spider we hung from the ceiling, the Christmas lights complimenting each corner of the house, and even just the flowers growing in our yard. We took pride in our house.

We always hosted the parties, whether it was birthdays, communions, New Years Eve, St. Patricks day brunch, or just random gatherings. We loved bringing the people we love close together, the people my mom calls her best friends, the kids I consider siblings.

Moving was hard. Although we were only moving 25 mins away (without traffic), I was leaving behind what I ever knew. Not being able to see the long island sound in the far distance from our attic, not walking to school anymore, not seeing crazy Sam across the road, not biking to the pizza shop, not playing in the neighbors backyard making new “potions” everyday, leaving my wonderful backyard, leaving my room, leaving behind my best friend, leaving my home. Saying goodbye was tough. Even if I still had contact with my friends, it was not seeing them everyday. Saying goodbye to the teachers that taught me if not anything, but to be kind, the neighbor that waved at me every morning, my “uncle” John next door, the big fluffy white dog on the fence of the house on the corner, and so much more. I truly was excited, but it didn’t hit me until after we had left, after finally processing that we had left our home, our heart. In that moment of driving away, it hit me in that moment, that I will never be where I was again.

My dad told me not to be sad we left, but to be happy with what we experienced. Yes, we experienced many different emotions, but many of those were joy. The many happy memories of laughing and smiling. The lessons learned from being present. Because of that house, I am a different person. I am the person who I am today because of the memories, emotions, and things that I have endured.

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Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island Beach Resort & Spa, North Ocean Drive, Riviera Beach, FL

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Picture from an early morning walk on the beach.

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A place that I hold close to my heart is Singer Island, West Palm Beach, Florida. Since I was little, we have always taken our annual trips to West Palm. Sometimes we head across to Orlando to visit Disney World and to feel the magic and excitement. But there is no place else like Singer Island.

Going to the pool early in the morning, after eating a bowl of cereal on the balcony, to get seats, and just planting yourself there all day long, taking frequent trips to the beach in which was only a 30 second walk. Running down the hallways at\ lightning speed racing my siblings, eating cereal out of the cups you get at the supermarket. Everyone waiting to get in the shower with salty hair from the 10ft waves crashing over you. After everyone was finished getting ready, trying to decide where our dinner of the night was, while we were all admiring our burnt faces.

We then had our nightly dinners in some of our favorite restaurants in the world. Having a hard time choosing between Dune Dog just over in Jupiter and their amazing milkshakes, or the two drunken goats, with its live atmosphere on the beach. After stuffing ourselves with food and 3 hour long discussions at the table laughing at the recaps of the day, we take our nightly publix trips in which my entire family would go into the supermarket. Walking down the long aisles around 10 pm, being one of the only ones in the store. Our laughter continues as we throw stuff into the cart without my mom seeing, spending a good hour in there, half the time deciding on what 2 tubs of ice cream and cereal to get, and ending up getting much more than the average human can consume.

Back at the hotel, taking a walk along the beach, just in time to see the turtles running to the water or laying their eggs. The moon casts a shadow of light over the water, waves crashing. Typically, these walks would consist of either all 7 of us, or basically anyone that wasn’t about to fall asleep. Usually, I would end up slowly walking down the beach with my dad, mom, and sister. Some nights we laughed until the verge of peeing our pants, and others we walked in silence, but always while enjoying the company of someone else. Stepping on to the soft sand, I am immediately in a state of calm. All of my worries, concerns, and problems are gone from my brain. When I am on that beach, I am in the moment, taking my deep breaths, thinking about how grateful I am to be where I am. How happy I am to be there at that exact time, with my family.

After walking until my brother Dylan calls us, worrying about if we somehow got eaten by turtles or stolen by pirates, that is when we knew to head back. We ended the night by eating a ginormous bowl of ice cream and heading to bed with salt still in our hair. Waking up the next morning, grateful to do it again.