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| Obviously striking my diva pose. |
If you know me, you know that I am not a fan of change. I
like familiarity, stability, routine. I come by it honestly- my dad is the
exact same way. As a kid growing up, the one family vacation my siblings and I could
count on was going to the beach condo for the week of July 4th.
Every year. Same week. And even though we’ve all grown up, my parents still go.
Every year. Same week. One of more of us usually crash there for a few days
with them, but since I’ve got three kids now, it gets crowded.
And it’s the one week during the year my dad gets to do everything his way. He fries fish for almost every dinner (mom made him give that up at home years ago.) He goes down to the ocean in the morning and late afternoon, announces the tide schedule to the room at large as if that will make a difference in his routine, and puts up the same beach umbrella he’s had since before I was born. And I love it all. There’s something to comforting in routine and in knowing that no matter what has been going in in life, that week at the beach remains unchanged. My family will always be there. They will always have pizza the first night, and they will always watch from the balcony as the sky fills with fireworks on the 4th of July.
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| Johnny may kill me for this picture. |
The condo building they rent from every year is filled with
people of the same mindset as dad. They’ve been coming for years and it’s rare
to have a vacancy- especially on a holiday week. I’ve been on a waiting list
for three years and finally this summer, we’ll have our own condo. A one
bedroom condo for five people, but it’s still a victory. I know mom and dad are
glad they’ll have a place to send the boys when they’ve had enough chaos. So
this summer, we’ll begin to establish our own summer beach memories with the
boys. We’ll stay up late playing in the pool when the lifeguard is gone and won’t
take away our pool noodles. We’ll get up early to comb the beach for shells
then walk to Mon Delice for a French pastry. We’ll play tennis….well, my sister
will attempt to teach us the finer points while I hit balls over the fence and
the boys use the racquets as swords. And it will be wonderful!
With Love,
Susanne
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