Beach Heaven

  It is hard not to wish that every week could be like the one we just spent at the beach. In one word, I would have to describe the week as heavenly.

      Six of my parent’s 10 children rented a house on the beach in North Carolina for the week. 14 adults and 24 children in a 10 bedroom duplex. Our loose schedule included playing on the beach, swimming in the water, building masterpieces in the sand, and riding huge green alligators, interrupted only by meal times and nap times.

     The evenings were spent playing games with the children, and finally, putting them – exhausted from the sand and sun – into bed. At this point, the adults seemed to reverse roles, becoming the children, the siblings of yesteryear. Visiting, playing cards, eating fun treats, and enjoying the bonds that siblings share. Can you see why it seemed so heavenly?

     Heaven, for me, besides the sun, sand and waves, is the extended family feeling. Children going from one side of the beach house to the other, parents helping to keep tabs on all of the children, not just their own. Cousins and cousins and more cousins. Running, playing, taking only minutes to remember each other as best friends from last year. It was so very reminiscent of my own childhood, of our trips to the grandparent’s farm for a week each summer.

And suddenly, the cost of travel, the stress of airplanes and rental cars, the one bedroom living – all becomes immaterial.

 It is all worth it when you get to spend a week with your family in heaven.

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