Our Returning to the Beach

Today I drove to Surfside Beach, SC, as I have done every summer for over 30 years but this visit will be very different. This will be my grandson’s first trip to the beach. He is only 4 months old, but as it was with his dad and aunts, it is important to get the beach imprinted on his little mind as early as possible. I am so excited about sharing this experience with him! I’m like a kid at Christmas! I have bought a beach blanket, a huge umbrella, a wagon, and have packed up toys, books and the Pack and Play my dear friends gave me at my Grandma Shower! I’m taking anything I can to help make the packing easier for Carter and KP. I don’t want anything to discourage them from returning! 😉 I hope this will be the first of many visits for him. I envision MiMi Camp being held there for at least one week each summer! 😊
My parents bought the house in 1983, my senior year of college. I graduated with a degree in elementary education and was fortunate enough to secure a job in Summerville,SC. This made traveling to the beach house during the summers very convenient. Even after Chris and I married, I would spend part of my summer there. As our family grew, we spent more time there. I would pack up the children and head to the beach for four to six weeks at a time. My parents would come and help out during the week and Chris would come up on the weekends and for one or two full weeks. It was a fabulous time in our lives. The memories created here are as numerous as the grains of sand on the beach.
This made returning after Chris’s death very difficult. In March, following his death, my dear sweet friends Susan and Shand went to the beach with me. I needed the first trip back to be without the children. I had to process being here without him. It was an emotional roller coaster all weekend. Ultimately, it was a healing weekend. The memories were comforting and I was at peace. The beach always brings me peace. There’s just something special about the sound of the waves crashing on the shores, the feel of the sand between my toes and the gentle breeze blowing in my face.
Life is different but it’s still good. We are creating more memories and I know Chris will be watching over us. Yes, I wish he was actually here but I can’t focus on that. I have to live in the moment. I have to be present, all in, for our children and grandson.
Proverbs 3:5-6