A Family Tradition

One year the children presented the parents with a painting of the home they grew up in. As I watched the grandmother open it, I was moved to tears as they pointed out the windows of their bedrooms (OK, I eavesdrop a little).  What a beautiful life cycle, as the home of this family now becomes the home of a new young family.  I wish the new family nothing more wonderful than a life filled with the togetherness and love that this family has enjoyed.

There are a string of lounge chairs set up on the beach every morning for the “giant family”, and they come down and set up the toys on the beach for the children, and the grandmother takes them into the ocean and plays in the surf with them.  The women go on long healthy beach walks filled with chatter than I can only assume is about the joys and frustrations of motherhood  and working, and the men go off to golf and fish.

I am grateful for all the weeks and memories my family has had at Gurney’s and the ones which are yet to be made.  I am envious of the “giant family”, and yet I am also happy for them.  I know the joy I would get in their environment, and how lucky they are to have each other.  I know if my parents were here we would still all be going out together, and have a string of lounge chairs on the beach. My mom would be wrapped in the bliss of sitting with her granddaughters and gossiping about celebrities, styles, books and magazines, and my dad would be sitting and reading his New York Times, basking in the glow of the company and the sun at the same time.