by Lisa Dworkin
I first fell in love when I was six. It happened when my family moved to a house less than half a block from a beach. From that day forward I’ve been drawn to the beach like a moth to a flame. In fact, the beach’s hold on me is so powerful that as a child I would completely disregard my mother’s rule about not going to the beach alone. From six on, I was at the beach almost daily, winter, spring, summer, and fall. When I think about that now all I can think is that if I were my mother I would kill me. She probably would have too if she had ever found out.
Most of my good memories are tied to beaches. As a teenager I hung out with friends, sailed, and had my first kiss at the beach. Even my career goals were beach related. I wanted to be a marine biologist or beach bum (no happy medium there). I didn’t become either.
Nonetheless, I continued to be obsessed with beaches despite following a different career path. After I had children, I continued to go to the beach regularly, only now it was with two tiny companions. We built cities in the sand, made “sandballs” in place of snowballs, and were boogie boarding almost as soon as my sons could walk.
The beach wasn’t only a place for fun. It was also a place of refuge. If I was upset or down I headed to the nearest beach. To this day beaches’ amazing transformative powers continue to work their magic on me. Not long ago I was going through a difficult time, so what did I do? I walked on the beach daily and was moved to do a “happy dance” as a result. I’m sure I looked utterly ridiculous, but I didn’t care. I was at the beach!
Lisa at www.thebestbeach.net
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