Cousins, Candy Canes, and Cumberland Farms

Student Essay by Shaila Piercey

What do expired candy canes, cousins, and the Cumberland Farms gas station have in common? Well, when I think about my favorite childhood memories, one of the first ones that comes to mind is the time that my siblings and I spent with our cousins in NH. 

    Although the heat of the summer up north is not nearly as oppressive as here in AL, it still reaches high temperatures. Even though we were sweating, my cousins, siblings and I would brave the hot outdoors and play countless games of Cops and Robbers. Although running around together was fun, the best part was cooling down afterwards with slushies from our favorite gas station, Cumberland Farms. 

    We had many fun traditions with our cousins in the winter time as well. These consisted of family gatherings, cousin Christmas cookie decorating, eating expired candy canes off of our Grandma’s Christmas tree, (no one really knows when those had expired), and, of course, playing in the snow. During one family gathering, it was icy cold outside, while we played in the sparkling snow. It was decided that we would build a snowman and a snowwoman. After the masterpieces were complete, even including grass hair for the snowwoman, we decided to name them. They were affectionately named “Spike and Cookie”. I would like to finish that by saying “and they are still standing to this day”, but sadly Spike and Cookie met the sad demise of all other snowmen. 

    Out of many amazing memories that we made with our cousins, these are just some of my favorites.