Back at the Beach

My kids are spoiled.  I don’t mean it like they are spoiled brats, I just mean that I had it a tad rougher when we visited the beach when I was a kid.

Instead of just trekking it down the elevator and over the boardwalk to get to the beach, we had to drag our things about a half a mile or so from our little cottage that we used to stay in for a few days.

I remember sweating so bad and seeing the ocean ahead of me like an oasis.  I could NOT WAIT to throw myself into the waves and swim out as far as my mom would let me.  Or, have my Daddy going with me, as the biggest waves slapped my back and made me delight in the grandness of it all.

I am glad my kids have it easier now because that means I do too. 😉

Last week we joined my parents and one of my brothers and my SIL and their children for a last little summer getaway at Mustang Island, TX.

We slathered on sunscreen and built sandcastles and the kids buried each other.  They caught a few waves on their boogie boards and dug holes in the sand and then begged to go to the pool.

I ate fried fish and oysters.  We bought some cheesy souvenirs.

I found sand in places it should not be.

I didn’t care about wearing make-up.

We shot potatoes into the ocean using my Dad’s homemade “potato gun” and Right Guard for fuel. (I kid you not)(see proof below).

 

 

 

This trip made me think a lot about my parents’ and the times we get to spend with them.

One morning, at breakfast, my father was across the table from me and he leaned over and thanked me for this post.

He is 82 and still going pretty strong. I am counting all my lucky stars.

My mother walked with Tim and I on the beach one morning and we caught up for a bit and took a photo of us together, our hair blowing in the constant beach breeze.

She is 76 with a huge heart and loves my kids so much.

They both do.

 

These amazing human beings introduced me to the ocean many years ago.  They started off my love for it.  They showed me why it was an amazing place, mostly for it’s power.  Power to calm, power to sweep you away.  Power to enlighten yourself to something much bigger than yourself.

 

I am grateful.

For them.  For those opportunities, which I can no longer number.

For this trip and time together as a family…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

p.s. I posted on Medium for the first time… please go read what I wrote about Sandra Bland and recommend and share if you are so inclined.  Have you ever posted there?