SANDCASTLES AT SUNSET

Sandcastles, from the most ornate to a bucket of wet sand turned upside down, all have one thing in common:

They don’t last.

But instead of mourning the loss of the castle, think of this: You have a chance to build another one, a better one, one that will last.

Knowing it won’t last never stops the builder.

It’s the same brave start when people decide to build a life together.

The difference is how long things last. Love makes it last

Joni Mitchell wrote a song about clouds, but it wasn’t clouds, it was love. I thought it was clouds.

Rows and floes of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
I’ve looked at clouds that way

On this day I remember the angel hair of small children playing together in peace and harmony.

They helped one another, shared and laughed and welcomed friends to join.

From stacking blocks and starting over to finding more to build with, they were an innocent embodiment of life on earth.

On this day I hold an angel red hair baby sleeping in my arms, another innocent life in a welcoming world.

Welcoming World Of Sandcastles

The foundations are laid by those who have cared for us before we knew what it meant to care.

A cuddly mom, an eagle-eyed dad, grandparents who embrace the future.

Together they build their sandcastles.

“This is the best one ever and tomorrow we’ll make it even better.”

The next day:

“Where’s our sandcastle?”

“It’s there in the sand. We just have to find it.”

“It is?”

“Yes. Let’s get started.”

I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It’s cloud illusions I recall
I really don’t know clouds at all

Sunset Beach

This was my first beach, a family beach. Mom and dad loaded up the car with kids and food for the beach day.

Luckily we lived in North Bend so it was a short trip.

We stopped one time at a car accident near a cranberry bog. One man drove his truck over the bank on the right side and knocked his head. He leaned against the front holding a bloody rag on his face.

My dad pulled over and waited until an ambulance arrived.

On another beach day he stopped near the Bastendorf Beach exit off Cape Argo Highway. A man and a cow stood in the middle of a field on the left side of the road. We watched the two men deliver a calf like it was just part of a normal day.

Another Sunset

Today part of the same group will join in memory of a good man, one who made a difference to us all. He was the step-dad who showed up strong for my mom’s kids and grandkids and great grandkids.

From softball games to wrestling matches and graduations, he was one of us.

He was steady at my dad’s funeral, a rock at my uncle’s memorial.

A great sports fan, his teams were the Raiders and UW Huskies while living near Autzen Stadium. A fair man, he thought of others in an unexpected way, a sharing way.

Today we build more sandcastles with help from his people, and we are those people.

May his memory be one of the ties that bind us together.