I had lunch with my old friend Kathleen today. She reminds
me in a glorious way about being in the right place at the right time, as if by chance. I remember when I met her that day on Waikiki almost 20 years ago and how it seemed so happenstance that I got to meet her, or perhaps part of a divine plan.
After lunch, I joined Bruce and the kids at Shark’s Cove. Only 25% of them were having a good time, so we moved to the next beach over. The one that reminded me of the ash tray the day before, but today I think someone had been cleaning it up. It was lovely. After a short swim, Bruce took Mary back to the house while I stayed with the boys and gently napped. I watched the boys digging a very deep hole and the adorable sandy bottom of a toddler who had joined them. All I could see above the hole was her bottom as she was absorbed in her task of digging. I smiled as I thought of how lucky she was to have found these very nice boys to play with. (Since this is my blog, I can brag shamelessly about how wonderfully nice these two boys are.)
After more than an hour, Cory came to my spot and said “I know it’s been quite a while, but what happened to Dad and Mary?” I answered “They went back to the house.” He stamped his foot in frustration and anger “You knew I wanted to go back! Why did you let them go without me?” “I am sorry, Cory. Five minutes.” I said. “You knew I wanted to go back!” he said again. “Five minutes. Tell your brother.” I said.
I had known that he wanted to go back. But when they left, he looked like he was having so much fun, I thought he had changed his mind. And the last time he heard Mary say she wanted to go back, he had said “Mary, we just got here. Charlie wants to play a little.” I felt badly, but I wasn’t going to dwell on it. Five minutes.
Cory went out into the ocean up to his chest. Charlie played in the shore break. And the toddler, away from the protective eyes of her father who previously had been standing close watch, decided to follow Cory. She couldn’t swim. A wave, retreating from the beach to the ocean, picked her up and began to sweep her out to deeper water. She flailed, but any noise she made was imperceptible above the ocean. Quickly sizing up what was happening, Cory grabbed her and carried her to shore. Seeing the aftermath, her dad ran over and scolded her for going into the water without him. He looked at Cory, who was back in the ocean, and said “Thank you.” Cory gave a polite nod, but didn’t seem to dwell on what had just happened.
I packed up our things and seeing me ready to go, my boys came out of the water.
