VACATION

One thing about growing older is if you worked hard and was careful with the money you made, you can take a few vacations. I just returned from the Mayan Riviera. Most people would say I went to Cancun though I’ve never seen the city. We go to the Moon Palace, an all inclusive, I’m glad to say I’ve never been disappointed. The beach sand is different than the beach sand of New England. I love to walk shoeless along the beach knowing my feet won’t burn. I watched the birds, smaller than my fist, and I’m a small person. They played with the tide, digging for food when it rolled out, running away as the waves once again crashed against the shore. It reminded me of how we spend so much time crashing into the waves life throws our way. Some of us run. Others stand still, fighting a future we can’t change and others work with the water hoping to make the waves wash away past hurts to bring a better world for those who will follow. I’ve run. I’ve stood still, feeling the water break around my toes only to see it return unchanged as I step away. Now I walk into the crashing waves, floating on its roiling surface, hoping my movements help the children playing on the shore. I hope their sand castles last longer than those I made. I can’t fix the past, neither can I determine the future, but with each step into the sea, I can make a difference. It may be a difference only one child will feel, but to that child it may be the difference giving her or him, or them, a life worth living. In my books I try to show how our decisions, even those that seem inconsequential, can make a difference.