Lake St. Louis

The stained waters of this beautiful lake community are where I grew up. This small 600-acre lake has shaped me into the person I have become over the years. This is the first place I ever cast a line in the water, learned to waterski, and found a girlfriend that I have loved and cherished over the years. I have lived in the community for all of my life and I’m on the lake almost every day from May to September. The lake and I have had our ups and downs but I wouldn’t trade this place for any other while growing up.

My first encounter with the lake was when I was old enough to hold a scooby doo fishing pole. My mother, father, and I went down to the local park and fished from the bank in the lake. My father is an avid fisherman and has been since he was a young boy. He walked on the dock and skipped his jig in places that didnt look physically possible. But for him the harder the challenge the easier it seemed to be for him. With years of experience under his belt he could put that small jig into a red solo cup from 20 yards away. Watching my father fish was fascinating and seeing him pull out fish after fish was even more impressive. While i watched my father my line was in the water with a tiny little crappie jig tied to the end. It was my turn, there was a huge tug at the end of my pole and I set the hook. I fight it in with all of my strength and it was an albino catfish. The smile on the faces of my parents was unmatchable. This made me so happy that they were so proud of me and I will never forget how this moment boosted me into becoming the fisherman I am today.

The Lake is also home to a water ski club that I became a part of at a young age. When I was learning to get up on the skis it was challenging for me. Each practice I would sit on the dock with my friends, skis on, and rope in hand. Each of those days I fell off the dock into the water and watched my friends ski off without me. I spent 3 days a week for 2 months trying to get up. I would not back down. My coaches had faith that I could do it. One day before the Homeshow where you show off all you learned for that year they took me out on the water privately to work with me. On the first try when they were focusing on just me, I made it up. Everyone was so excited for me. Later that day Coach Dan and Mary Wright came up to my mom and told her that I was going to be one of the best skiers in LSL history. I have come a long way since then and can do almost anything someone can ask. When my mother told me this compliment I knew that I had to live up to it and it is what I will strive for the rest of my life.

The final story about the Lake is that it is where I met the first girl that I ever dated. I met this girl on the ski team when I was first learning. She was always better than me throughout our lives. We became good friends and so did our parents. We would always hang out together at practices and parties. Everyone always told our parents, ¨You just wait, they will be dating in no time.¨ The only catch was that she was 2-grade levels ahead of me, but our age gap is only a year and a half. This made it hard in the aspect of dating. We skied together and pushed each other to get better every day and that’s one of the reasons I have gotten so good is because of the competition between us. Now we are very even in our abilities of skiing. We spend time out on the boats together just tied up with all of our friends anchored in a cove. Finally, after spending so much time together I finally convinced her to go on a date with me at the end of her senior year and we have been doing great ever since then. Ski club will always be a part of our lives because it is how we met. As for Lake St. Louis, I think we are gonna stick around here for a very long time.