Thanks for the Memories, Dad

Dave and I, the kids and my sister's family just returned from our annual vacation week on Sanibel Island. I've been spending the same week each year on Sanibel Island since I was in college....about twenty six years (Wow I'm old)! My dad and step mother purchased a condominium when I was young. For years they invited me down and I loved it so much that I took my husband down after we were married. He, too, fell in love with it so we bought our own unit. After our children were born we began taking them down to enjoy the week with family. My kids have grown up one week a year for the past 16 years on Sanibel. It's a place that has become very special to them. Each year when we cross over that bridge to the Island they say "it's good to be home"!

It is a week I look forward to for 51 weeks out of each year. It's a time for quiet, peaceful reflection, walks on the beach, family time and alone time. It's a time to read, catch up on lost sleep, run on the beach, swim, fish, play golf and tennis and ride bikes. There is always a day for wave runners and para sailing. There are sunny days and afternoon thunderstorms. You can always find us involved in competitive games of shuffleboard, sand volleyball and cards. It's good eating at our favorite places like the Bubble Room, Mucky Duck, Island Cow, the Lighthouse and of course there are several trips to Dairy Queen.

Over the years we have all been down there at one time or another. Sometimes together and sometimes separate. The three of us kids have taken friends and boyfriends/girlfriends and now our own children are bringing friends, and boyfriends/girlfriends. Despite our parents being divorced we've been able to take our mother and stepfather and our in laws. Our aunts, uncles and cousins have also visited. It's a week where stress, strains and struggles are forgotten. It's a week of laughter, sharing old memories from years past and making new memories.

I can't describe how much this place means to me and my family. It really is our perfect place, our paradise, our other home. Courtney has been telling us for years that she will someday get married on this beach. I hope as my children get older they too will want to bring their spouses and eventually their children to this amazing place. I hope they will someday pass this family tradition on to their families as my dad has done with us.

This year Father's Day came and went while we were on the Island. That Father's Day evening we all went out to dinner and toasted Dave and my brother in law and as we raised our glasses I also added a toast to my dad because if it weren't for him we wouldn't have been all together that evening in that restaurant, in that resort on that perfect Island. We wouldn't have the memories of spending these special times with each other and they truly are unforgettable, special times.

This will always be a place where I will think of my Dad and pause to thank him. Because of him we have a place where we can get away and just be.......be by ourselves and also be a family without any outside interferences. A week on Sanibel Island is one of the biggest legacies my Dad is leaving to his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Dad,

Thanks for the memories.