My other happy place, though, is Old Florida Village in Santa Rosa Beach, FL. For at least 15 years, Jude and I have been coming here with the boys for spring break, fall break or, occasionally, our end of summer vacation. From the minute we pull up in the driveway of the house we've rented for the week, I start to relax.
I love it here.
As a native Californian, the beach and the ocean are in my blood. I could sit in a beach chair for hours, reading, and staring out at the ocean. The ocean calms me and clears my head. Being near it makes me feel alive in a way that I don't when I'm elsewhere, landlocked. Something about the ocean releases my soul and encourages it to wander a bit and appreciate firsthand our beautiful life and this enchanting planet on which we're privileged to spend our days and nights until it's time to go home forever.
As I sit on the downstairs porch in the fading sunlight, listening to Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova and sipping a bourbon, I'm overwhelmed with my great good fortune. What did I ever do to deserve the family I have, the friends I have, the life I live? God has blessed me well beyond what I deserve but I am grateful beyond measure nonetheless.
JP and I went for a six mile trail run this morning on the Longleaf Greenway Trail near our rental house. Over the years, I've run that trail so many times. It's one of my favorites and to be able to share it with JP is a gift. It's not lost on me - it never is - that I'm blessed at age 57 to be able to run with him as a peer. Sure, he's faster than me but on a longer run, I don't slow him down that much. At least, that's what I tell myself. Either way, my guess is that there aren't a lot of 57 year old men going for a six mile run with the number one ranked freshman cross country runner in the state.
The point, of course, is that I'm beyond grateful to be able to run with JP. He loves running the same way I love running. I hope that never changes.
Last night, Joe couldn't sleep, in part because we have some spring breakers in the house next to us and they were doing what college boys on spring break do. Drink beer and talk, loudly. Joe wandered downstairs, laid down next to me on the bed in the guest room, and watched the end of the Lakers win over the Timberwolves. Just us, up late, watching the Lakers.
I never take for granted how lucky I am to have two sons that love sports the way I do. Our love of sports is the common language we speak that many others don't. It's part of our bond. A love of sports and especially a love of the Laker and the Dodgers. I don't think that will ever change. One of my mom's greatest gifts to me was a love of sports and now, I've given passed her love of sport along to my sons.
Could I live here one day? Maybe. Probably. I don't know.
I often wonder where the boys will end up, short term and long term. Will JP run cross country or track in college and, if so, where? What will Joe be like in high school? Where will he go to college? Will one or both of the boys go away to college? I hope so. I want that for them, as hard as it will be for Jude and me to not have them near enough for us to drive to in a day. Still, I want them to be independent and to have their own lives. To do that, I think they need to go away to college.
I like the not knowing, if that makes sense. It's like a book I have in my book case that I know I want to read but I haven't, not yet. I know I'll love how the boys turn out. Their personal story. But I also like not knowing, at least not right now. I like knowing that God willing, I'm going to get watch their lives unfold. That's maybe the greatest blessing of them all.
My family doesn't need a a lot to be content on vacation. We don't have to travel to an exotic locale. A nice place to stay but not too nice. Nothing pretentious. A beach. An ocean. A place to run. A place to throw the baseball. Restaurants. A swimming pool or two. Books to read. And, most importantly, each other.
Really, that's all we need.
Each other.
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