A way of holding on

Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.  ~From the television show The Wonder Years

A year ago I was sitting on the porch of this house, nearing the middle of a wonderful family vacation. My father had been diagnosed with inoperable cancer just months before, but had responded well to treatment and was feeling well enough to enjoy walks on the beach, a dinner date with his beautiful wife at his favorite little restaurant, and a game of bocce ball.

This beach was one of my father's favorite places and for many years he spent a week or more there every Spring or Fall.  We felt blessed to find this house that seemed nearly perfect for our gathering.  Family members came and went throughout the week, staggering and overlapping their visits.  Some stayed at a motel just a short distance away.  The group around the dinner table varied from evening to evening, but every seat was always filled.  At the beginning of the week we shivered under blankets on the porch, but at the end we were sunning on the beach.  We talked, read, played games, laughed, and took hundreds of pictures.  We built sand castles, fished, collected shells, and shopped.  We watched the sun set.  We thought about how much we loved each other.  We made memories.
See the slideshow at the top of the blog sidebar for more pictures.

To live in hearts we leave behind

Is not to die.

~Thomas Campbell, Hallowed Ground