Sunday Night Reflections

I have found that it is very difficult to blog with tears in your eyes! Those of you who know me best are surely not surprised that it has taken me this long to post my reflections on the past couple of weeks. Oh, I started several times, but the tears always got in my way! I wondered more than once "where is the good in goodbye?"! Then today as I sat down at the computer I realized just how lucky I am to have something that makes goodbye so hard.

We had such a wonderful time with Molly, Gabby, and David these past two weeks--our days were full of sunshine, and we made the most of them. We spent lots of time at the beach, of course, but also enjoyed many of the other treasures of this area, and thoroughly enjoyed just being together.

Although the beach was definitely our favorite place, we also did lots of other things. At Gabby's constant prompting, Papa took her and Molly fishing at a couple of different ponds. No fish were caught, but not due to a lack of effort! We decided that it was too hot even for fish! The turtles, however, were most interested in Gabby's spinner bait, and she enjoyed luring them to the dock and feeding them her Life cereal. At one time she counted 20 turtles of various sizes in the water at her feet.

We all played golf one day at Wachesaw Plantation. Gabby is quite the little golfer! She wowed us all with some of her drives, but we laughed at how she really just wanted to hit it into the sand bunkers! And like her Grandmother, her putting technique could use some work! My nickname may be "Walkin Putt", but Gabby's might be "Runnin' Putt"! Molly, as always, only wants to hit off the tee box, then pick the ball up and go to the next tee! Her attention span hasn't improved much when it comes to golf. After some time with Michael on the lesson tee, David's swing has now gone from a 3 or 4-plane swing to the preferred one-plane swing--some of the time! He hit some great shots and we termed the lesson a success when we completed the 18th hole and no one was hurt nor were any windows broken--at least none that we know of!

We spent one day visiting historic Charleston and Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. David loves history, and we all really enjoyed the boat trip through Charleston Harbor out to the fort. Gabby seemed quite enthralled by the guns and cannons at the fort, and loved spotting dolphins in the harbor. Because it was so very hot, we drove through downtown Charleston and viewed the old lovely mansions from the comfort of the air-conditioned car. I'm not sure any of us would have survived the recommended walking tour! We'll save that for another trip. Also saved for another time was the visit to Hampton Plantation and the miles-long dirt road to the St. James Santee Church --just too hot! The cool breezes of the beach kept calling to us!

We made two visits to Brookgreen Gardens. Even though it was a bit hot and steamy, the beauty of the grounds, the sculptures, the wildlife, and of course the magnificent live oaks deserved more than one visit. We took the boat excursion and learned all about rice growing and the history of the four plantations that make up the 9,000 acres that are Brookgreen Gardens today. Every time I go there, I marvel at the vision of Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington to have made that and Huntington Beach such a treasure for future generations to enjoy.

Our last day at the beach was a spectacular one: The tide was going out when we got there, and the seas were quite calm. Gabby and David spent hours in the water discovering clams, trying to catch fish with their hands, and digging giant snails. We all marveled at an extremely large Horseshoe crab that came to visit as the two of them sat in the shallows. Horseshoe crabs are so amazing--they are literally unchanged for 500 million years--truly living fossils! We all felt as if we had been blessed to have witnessed one just swimming along, checking things out, inspecting the beach.

Early Wednesday morning all three got on a plane and headed to Atlanta, then home to Utah and Seattle. Of course the silence is deafening around here and I've been in a blue funk since--but I keep reminding myself not to cry because it is over, but to smile because it happened! We look forward now to having the other children come for a visit, and we can introduce them, too, to the wonders of the Low Country.

And I'm thinking tonight that missing someone gets easier every day because even though it's one day further from the last time you saw each other, it's one day closer to the next time you will. And someone, I don't remember who, once told me that "love is missing someone whenever you're apart, but somehow feeling warm inside because you're close in heart. " I miss all of them, but I feel very close in heart to my family tonight. Love and blessings to you all!

Janet