Toes in the Sand: How One Woman Discovered the Gift of Unwavering Faith That Changed Her Life Completely

By Nena Jackson

Ebook downloads to computer as a PDF. Does not download to hand-held reading devices.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 15, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456723729

Nena Jackson

Nena Jackson lives in Seabrook Island, South Carolina and enjoys having her 'toes in the sand' on a daily basis. She now lives a life of unwavering faith and is God-inspired to share this gift with others by writing about her experiences.

Book preview

Contents

WINTER BLUR

LIFE GOES ON

REMINISCING

DOSES OF REALITY

TOO MUCH HOSPITAL TIME

MIXED BLESSINGS

SURPRISE!

POSSIBILITIES AND CELEBRATIONS

FAMILY TIME AT THE BEACH

DOWN SOUTH

LET’S GO SAILING

CHARLESTON IN THE FALL

HOLIDAY SEASON

GOD GOT MY ATTENTION

LEAP OF FAITH

EASTER BLESSING

SOUTH OF THE BORDER

FOR RENT

PACK, UNPACK, REPEAT

GOODBYES BEGIN

HATS OFF TO THE GRADUATE!

TOES IN THE SAND

EPILOGUE

1

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WINTER BLUR

It had been a typical Sunday evening at our home. Dinner was over and our family was preparing for the week of work and school ahead. While upstairs trying to determine what to wear to work the next day, I heard my cell phone ringing downstairs. I laughed because my cell phone always rings when I am on one floor and it is on another. I ran the familiar course through the house to the kitchen and started digging in my purse to catch the caller before the last ring. Of course my phone was in the bottom of my purse but I grabbed it just in time to see that it was my dad calling. My parents and brother lived in Birmingham, Alabama, as did my sister, Rhonda, who was married to Bryan and had a six year old son, Austin. I was the only family member that had moved away.

When I answered the phone I could immediately tell that something was different in my dad’s tone of voice. With great concern he explained, I wanted to call and let you know that Clint has been admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. He has been sick for several days but he didn’t let on that he was getting worse. He actually drove himself to the hospital tonight and they immediately admitted him.

I caught my breath and exclaimed, That is the last thing I thought you were calling about. How horrible for this to happen today since it is his birthday! Is he going to be okay?

When Clint called he said the doctor thought he would be okay but that he needed to stay in the hospital for a few days. We knew he felt bad today because he stayed home from church and that rarely happens. We celebrated his birthday at lunch and then he went back to bed. Tonight while your mom and I were away he felt so bad that he drove to the hospital. We are headed down there now to see him so I will give you a call later tonight or in the morning to let you know how he is doing.

With care I replied, Please do keep me posted. Don’t worry about calling too late. Any time is fine.

I shared the news with Scott and Madison and called Justin. We all said a prayer for Clint’s recovery that night before going to bed.

Clint was not a typical forty five year old man. He had a learning disability and had never been able to live on his own; therefore he lived with my parents in the same bedroom he had occupied when we were children. He was able to drive a car, work simple part time jobs, and attend church but not much else. He lived a very simple life but seemed content. Over the years he had been so wonderful to Justin and Madison, which I deeply appreciated.

My dad did not call back until the next morning but the update he gave me was good. Clint was resting comfortably and was receiving the medical attention he needed to get better. I went about my day at work with great relief that he would be fine in a few days. I knew my parents did not need any more stress in their lives because my dad was still recovering from a stroke that occurred six months before.

Around ten o’clock that night my dad called back. On the other end of the phone I could hear my dad crying. My heart sank as I spoke, Dad, what’s wrong? Is Clint okay?

Through his sobbing my dad mumbled, Clint went into cardiac arrest tonight and now he is in a coma. Mom and I are rushing to the hospital now.

My eyes filled up with tears as I tried to find words to say. I was finally able to respond, I don’t understand. What happened today that caused him to take a turn for the worse?

Nothing we know of right now. Mom and I both went down to see him earlier this evening and he was doing about the same. The doctor came by while we were there. She told us that Clint was still very sick but with time his body and the medication should be able to fight off the pneumonia. The doctor also told us he would be kept in the ICU on a ventilator for the next several days. After that update your mom and I felt pretty comfortable and decided to come home so we could get some sleep. Ten minutes ago I received a call that he had gone into cardiac arrest. I don’t know what happened after we left him.

Are you okay to drive? I am sure Bryan or Rhonda would drive you and Mom if you are too upset.

No, I will be okay. I just want to hurry up and get to the hospital so I can get more information. I will call you back as soon as I know something.

Okay. I love you, Dad.

I love you too.

Around midnight my dad called back with awful news. He said that Clint was showing signs of brain damage from the cardiac arrest and that the doctor didn’t know if he would ever come out of the coma. Clint had gone into cardiac arrest when they changed his breathing tube on the ventilator. They had to work on Clint for several minutes to revive him and that is when the brain damage occurred. My dad said they were going to start performing tests the next day to determine the extent of the brain damage but at this point things did not look good at all.

I didn’t sleep much that night because I was in complete shock. None of this seemed real, especially since I was nine hours away. I knew that I had to get down there as soon as possible to be with my parents and sister. The next day I took the first flight available to Birmingham. During my layover in Atlanta I called my dad to check on Clint’s status. My parents had just been told that Clint had suffered extreme brain damage and would never be able to live without being on life support. They were going to wait for me to arrive to decide next steps but they knew what Clint would want us to do. He had made it clear to my parents that he did not want to be kept alive on life support if he was ever in that situation.

I was numb on my flight to Birmingham as my thoughts were consumed with what was going to happen next. Faced with the most difficult decision our family had ever encountered, Rhonda and I had to find incredible strength so we could help our parents through the days ahead. I just couldn’t believe that something like this had happened to my brother. Clint had never lived the type of life that Rhonda or I did and now his life was going to end in a very sad way. Knowing that I would never be able to talk to him again was very hard to swallow. Sure, I would be able to physically see him and say goodbye but he would never respond.

After my flight arrived and I had picked up my luggage, I went to wait outside for my dad to arrive. When I saw his car coming my way the tears started flowing. My dad pulled his car over to the curb near me and got out. He came over and hugged me tightly while we both sobbed uncontrollably. Once we gained composure he put my luggage in the trunk and we drove to the hospital to meet my mom and Rhonda. We arrived just in time for the next ICU visit and all four of us went in to see Clint together. I stood in the hallway outside my brother’s unit and watched my mom and dad hold Clint’s hand and tell him that I had arrived. Hearing this was too much to bear but somehow I found the strength to join them. We all stood around Clint and told him how much we loved him. We all stood there for what seemed like an eternity hoping he would just wake up and respond. There were times when his eyes would slightly open but the nurse informed us that it was just his nerves twitching. My heart broke as I watched my brother just lay there, breathing only with the help of a machine.

After visitation was over we all gathered in the waiting room to talk about next steps and decided to take a day or two before we made the final decision to take him off of life support. Rhonda and I wanted to talk to the doctor again to fully understand the severity of his brain damage. I know we all wanted nothing more than to come back to the hospital the next day and find out that Clint had improved so this awful decision would go away.

Improvement did not happen and on Friday, two days later, we made the decision to take Clint off life support. The conversations we had with the nurses and doctors all seemed like bad dreams. The doctor scheduled the procedure for Saturday morning at nine o’clock. To ensure Clint’s wishes to donate his organs were followed, we met with a wonderful team at the hospital that explained in detail how the process would work. Clint may have had a learning disability but that didn’t impact his love for others. Through this process my family and I received a sense of peace that Clint would help others through his death.

Justin drove over Friday night so he could be with us during the procedure since his college was only two hours away. I was very glad to have him there since Scott and Madison were still in Ohio. Justin is a wonderful son and I knew he would be a great support for me through these next several days. I also missed him greatly since he was so far away from home for college so even though the circumstances were tough, I was thankful for the opportunity to see him unexpectedly.

We arrived at the hospital the next morning and were escorted to a private waiting room. My parents remained in the waiting room while Justin, Rhonda, Bryan, and I went to the room where the procedure was to be performed. Even though it was the hardest ordeal the four of us had ever been through, we knew we had to be there for Clint. We stood in the hallway while his breathing tube was removed. His doctor came out to get us when they were finished. The four of us gathered around Clint and said our final goodbyes. The doctor had told us Clint’s passing would happen quickly but each breath seemed to take forever. We were all relieved that his breathing was calm because we didn’t want him to struggle. After a few minutes, with Justin holding me tight and Bryan hugging Rhonda, we watched our brother and uncle take his final peaceful breath. Rhonda and I hugged each other very tightly and we cried uncontrollably. My sister and I had just witnessed the death of our special older brother and the feeling was completely surreal.

Once the four of us were emotionally ready, we returned to the waiting room to see Mom and Dad. I will never forget the look on their faces when we entered the room. The sadness on their faces was more than any of us could bear to see. Luckily Bryan was able to talk and assured them that Clint died without suffering. That seemed to help Mom and Dad cope with the fact that they had just lost their son. I remember thinking at that point, What do we do now? What do you do right after watching your brother be taken off life support? I immediately called Scott to let him know that Clint had passed. He and Madison had already packed and were ready to leave the next day to drive down from Ohio. It would be nice to have all of us together to face the days ahead.

After an hour of talking and comforting each other, we left the hospital to begin the process of calling family and friends to share the sad news. I also called the newspaper to place Clint’s obituary, a task that I would love to never do again for any one. Next we had the difficult task of making funeral arrangements. I remember thinking that I now understood the ‘going through the motions’ feeling that other people have mentioned experiencing immediately after the death of a loved one.

We kept the visitation and graveside service very simple because we felt like that was what Clint would have wanted. His minister performed the service, which gave us a beautiful way to learn special insights about Clint that even my parents didn’t know. One thing was for certain—there were a lot of people at his church that were going to miss him greatly. Since Clint parked in the exact same parking place every Sunday, the church had decided to dedicate the space to him and placed a ‘reserved’ sign on the curb. Clint also sat in the same seat in his Sunday School class every week so they had decided to turn up his chair so no one else could sit there going forward. I definitely thought those were two beautiful ways to honor such a special person.

Scott and Madison left to go back to Ohio the day after the funeral so Madison could get back to school. Justin and I decided to stay for a few days so we could, along with my sister and her husband, help my parents by cleaning out Clint’s room and car so they didn’t have to face the task in the upcoming weeks or months.

As we went through his closet and drawers, we all just knew Clint was going to walk into the room any minute and ask why we were going through his stuff! None of us could really believe that he was gone. He had occupied this basement bedroom for over thirty years and we knew it would always be ‘his place’.

2

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LIFE GOES ON

Sometimes life doesn’t always go as we had planned and that was certainly the case in my life over the last year. Clint’s death had happened so suddenly and left me with an overwhelming feeling of being out of control. The foundation of my life seemed to be resting on sinking sand, which felt unsettled and uneasy. One of my favorite satisfying, soothing, and reassuring feelings was to wiggle my toes in the warm powdery sands of a pristine beach so it was ironic that this wiggly, almost unbalanced feeling on the beach could bring the opposite feeling in my everyday life. When this unsettling emotion overwhelmed me, I found comfort in thinking about a peaceful day at the beach. Living in Ohio meant that trips to the beach were less frequent than when I was growing up in Birmingham but I still managed to work in a number of beach trips each year. Every hour of travel was worth it because of the calming balanced feeling I got from putting my toes in the sand. Last November we planned two trips to the beach for the coming year; one at spring break to Gulf Shores, Alabama, and one to WaterColor Resort near Destin, Florida, in July. Scheduling these trips gave me a feeling of peace and took my mind off of the sadness of losing Clint. Spring break was the first week of April and could not arrive fast enough for me this year.

In the months after my brother’s death, my family and I tried to go back to a state of somewhat of normalcy but I found myself just going through motions. With each month I got a little better but constantly worried about my parents and how they were coping. Most of the time on the outside I appeared to be doing fine but on the inside I was grieving and my heart was filled with sadness. Some aspects of life can never be understood and Clint’s situation was one of those mysteries for me. His learning disability and inability to lead a normal adult life had always been very difficult for me to understand and accept. Rhonda and I both had beautiful families and homes while Clint had lived his entire life alone in his childhood bedroom. There were some days that this guilty feeling became too much to handle so I would call Rhonda for comfort. We helped each other through the mourning process so we could be strong for mom and dad.

With Thanksgiving approaching, our family planned to meet in Gatlinburg, Tennessee for the holiday. This location was a special place for our family because when my grandparents were alive they would coordinate wonderful Thanksgiving trips to the Smokey Mountains. Having my parents away from home for the holiday seemed to distract them somewhat from the fact that Clint was not celebrating with us. Distractions were a good way for all of us to focus on the difficult task of moving on.

As 2007 came to a close I prayed that the start of a new year would bring a ray of hope. The year didn’t need to bring something spectacular, just peace and happiness would do for me. Listening to the media did not bring that comfortable feeling I longed for because all the news was about the fact the economy was starting to take a turn for the worse and was predicted to go increasingly downhill as the year progressed.

In late February, instead of a ray of sunshine, I learned that my division would go through another wave of layoffs. The last five years I had been employed as an Information Technology Group Manager for a large regional bank and had let go of a number of people the year prior. I was not looking forward to going through the process again because the whole ordeal was very draining for all parties involved. I had enjoyed a career in technology management for the last fourteen years and, thankfully, layoffs were not something I had experienced until last year. The layoffs were scheduled for April, which meant that I would get to enjoy our spring break trip with Scott and Madison before facing this uncomfortable and difficult task.

I was thankful that Scott loved his job. Scott had been working for the last seven years leading a marketing group for a large retail private label credit card company. He worked very long hours due to his department’s aggressive revenue targets that increased every year but that never seemed to dampen his spirits one bit. He enjoyed the team of people that worked for him and received great satisfaction in helping them grow and develop in their careers. I knew Scott’s company was not immune to the economic downturn because they had recently taken a major blow when the acquisition of his company by a major investment firm fell apart at the last minute. However, I felt comfortable that Scott’s performance would help protect him from any layoffs if his company was forced to take such actions.

Unfortunately, that comfortable feeling vanished when Scott went into the office on the last day of February for a normal day of work. His manager told Scott that he appreciated all the hard work he had done over the past seven years and was very thankful for the amazing revenue numbers that he had produced year after year—but his services were no longer needed after March. Just like that—his position had been eliminated! Scott was truly dumbfounded and taken completely off guard. His department’s revenue grew tenfold over the last seven years. How could they let him go after all that hard work? Scott’s manager kept reiterating his appreciation for his hard work and awesome revenue growth but said it was something he had to do to show that he was doing his part in contributing to the overall cutbacks in the company. Just like that, Scott was unemployed. His manager then called Scott’s employees together with Scott and told them the news. Scott said that it was the hardest meeting he ever had to sit through. His employees were all shocked and shed many tears. They were watching the best manager they had ever had be let go and they didn’t understand why. They knew how dedicated Scott had been to their department and to the company. Scott loved working and loved his team and now these two loves were being taken from his life.

The evening when Scott came home and shared the news with me was one night that I will never forget. I remember exactly where I was standing—at the kitchen sink putting water in a pan to boil pasta. He walked over to me and quickly broke the news that his job had been eliminated. We both stood there in total shock. The topic of layoffs had been common in our house recently because I was obsessing over the fact that I had to give some employees bad news in April. Any time either one of us had to lay off or let an employee go, we spent a great deal of time at home talking about it because it was a very tough process to go through.

Scott began to tell me the details of how he found out. We moved past that part pretty quickly and then Scott did exactly what I would have expected him to do. He spent so much longer talking about how his employees reacted and how sad they were that this had happened. You see, Scott truly cared about his employees more than himself. He had great difficulty talking about it and we both got choked up. He said that probably not many people could say they loved their job but he could truly say he did. He loved the work but also loved developing and managing his employees. He had been blessed with a wonderful team of employees and they truly operated like a family. As a result, they produced excellent results. He went on to say that, as the afternoon went by, his office was filled with people stopping in from his team and other departments. Each person shared the same shock that he was ‘the chosen one’. Person after person did not understand the decision at all. Scott is not a person who strives for individual recognition. He is always thinking of the other person. Maybe that attitude doesn’t always exist in the corporate setting but it should. Everyone is so fearful of either losing his or her job or striving to get to that next level that they think only about themselves. Tough economic times only bring out this type of behavior in people more.

Scott went on to tell me the details of his severance package. Being at the director level he had received stock and options over the years so financially we were going to be fine. The stock was not something we had ever planned on needing to live on, but it was there if we did need it. We considered that a huge blessing because of the way the economy was performing at that time. Not knowing how long it would take for Scott to find another position, we knew that using it might be a possibility. This unfortunate event was not giving me the peace and comfort I was so hoping 2008 would bring after everything that happened last year.

I can’t remember if we actually ate dinner that night or not. All I remember is that we hugged very tightly after he shared the news with me and we immediately agreed to keep a positive attitude. Fortunately we had been smart in preparing for our financial future. We both had been married before and each had two children from these previous marriages. Knowing we were going to have four children going to college around the same time, and that we were financially responsible for half of each child’s expenses, we had always been motivated to save aggressively. I remember us being so thankful that we had done a good job of planning for the future. Scott’s oldest son, David, and my oldest son, Justin, were already in college, and our other two children, Madison and Matt, were close behind. I thanked God that Scott’s job elimination would not impact any of our children’s ability to go to college.

I immediately started crunching the monthly expenses to make sure we were going to be okay. I quickly felt a huge sense of relief because I knew we would be fine, at least financially. Plus, we felt that Scott would quickly find a new job and we would be able to get back on track with our long term financial plans. When we got married, right along with our normal marriage vows, was the promise that we would always be debt free except for maybe a car payment or mortgage. Boy was I glad for that promise!

I decided that night that I would strive to be the best possible spouse through this ordeal. I did not want to be the wife that nagged about how the job search was going each and every day. I also wanted Scott to know that he had not let his family or me down with what had happened. I knew it was not something he did at all.

What happened from the day that Scott’s position elimination was announced and his actual last day of work was wonderful to see. Scott received so many amazing phone calls, emails, and office visits from coworkers, vendors, employees, peers, and upper managers from other departments—everyone except his manager who did not even stop by to wish Scott well on his last day. Everyone who reached out to Scott had one common feeling they shared which was they could not believe Scott would ever be selected for job elimination. A number of the marketing vendors he did business with expressed concern about how successful their marketing programs were going to be without Scott’s leadership and dedication. The person who had been selected to take over the department was shocked and asked if Scott would mind helping him understand everything he had put in place. Scott handled all of these interactions with the most incredible amount of sincerity and helpfulness. That is just his way of handling everyone and every situation.

On Scott’s last day his employees threw him a very special going away party. When I arrived I was truly amazed at the turnout. Marketing vendors had flown in from Chicago, Minneapolis, Florida, and New York to join the celebration with many people from his company. It truly brought tears to my eyes as I sat and chatted with different folks. I found myself consoling many of them because they were overwhelmingly sad to see him leave. The evening ended after many laughs, tears, and stories about working with Scott. I drove home feeling immensely proud to be his wife!

Scott’s farewell party was held just three days before our spring break trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama. The beginning of the year had not brought much sunshine but I knew the beach would be a wonderful place to relax and absorb everything that had just happened. I was also glad we did not cancel the beach trip planned in July even though Scott’s job had been eliminated. After a long Ohio winter I needed a weeklong reward of warmth and sunshine and the trip in July would give us something to look forward to through the coming months filled with uncertainty.

Our spring break trip was definitely going to be quieter for our family than ones in the past because it was just Scott, Madison, and me. Justin did not have the same spring break schedule and was unable to join us. Madison had been hoping to bring a friend along but that plan fell through at the last minute. After everything that had happened in our lives, quiet was just fine with all of us!

Gulf Shores was a good destination spot for us because we had to travel through Birmingham, which gave us an opportunity to stop and see my parents. We had decided to spend the night with them Friday and finish our drive to the beach on Saturday morning. Rhonda, Bryan, and Austin joined us for dinner that evening. As we sat around the dining room table my heart ached that Clint was not there to be with us. By now the rest of my family was somewhat used to him not being there but since I lived out of town, this was my first dinner at my parents’ house since Clint’s death. I also noticed that Clint’s bedroom door was closed. Later my dad told me that they kept it closed all the time because seeing inside the room was still too painful. I certainly understood because I felt the pain and I didn’t live in the house day after day like they did.

When Saturday morning arrived we told mom and dad goodbye and got on the road to drive the last four hours to the beach. We had decided to wait awhile before telling my parents about Scott’s job elimination because we didn’t want them to worry about us when they were still grieving over the loss of their son.

We arrived in beautiful Gulf Shores by early afternoon and couldn’t wait to get to the condo that we were renting for the week. The condo belonged to Claire and Kevin, friends that lived in a town nearby. I knew the condo would be beautiful because all of the homes Claire had decorated over the years were spectacular.

When we entered the condo the first thing that caught my attention was the beautiful view of the intercoastal. We walked from room to room admiring the décor.

Rain or shine, I sighed, I will be just fine here, especially since we have this gorgeous view.

Scott agreed, I’m fine to have nothing much on our agenda for the entire week except to relax on the beach and cook wonderful fresh seafood at night.

I was sure Madison would want to go to Lillian’s pizza and Tacky Jack’s some time that week because a trip to Gulf Shores isn’t complete without those two stops.

Our first evening at the beach turned out to be a wonderful reconnection with good friends. Claire and Kevin stopped by the condo to welcome us to the beach and then later we had dinner with my best friend, Joy, and her family. When we got back to our condo later that evening, all three of us were exhausted.

I am turning in so I will be ready for a full day at the beach tomorrow, I yawned.

Scott agreed. I’m joining you and I’m sure I’ll fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

Good night! Madison said, in total agreement.

The next morning seemed to arrive in about two hours. We had all slept very well and didn’t wake up once during the night like we normally do at home. Beach vacations are wonderful because you get more sleep than usual, but no matter how much you get you can always sleep more. After forcing myself to get out of bed, I went through the beautiful family room and straight to the kitchen to make coffee. Scott and I decided to enjoy a cup of coffee on the balcony while watching early morning boats cruise through the intercoastal. Madison was still asleep and would probably sleep for several more hours.

After coffee, I asked Scott if he was ready to head down to the beach.

Sure, he replied.

The excitement of putting on a swimsuit and heading into the warm sunshine after a long Ohio winter is like when I was a child waking up on Christmas morning and heading down to see what Santa brought, I smiled. I’m not sure if Scott thought it was that meaningful but he has learned to just go along with me on anything related to the beach! He knew what a difficult time I’d had adapting to the cold Ohio weather since I had grown up in Birmingham, Alabama. I never knew winter could be so cold until I moved to Dublin, Ohio, in March of 1999.

I asked Scott, Should we wake up Madison and see if she wants to head down with us?

He said, Let’s just let her sleep and leave her a note to join us when she is ready.

Before leaving I followed my number one rule of going to the beach—apply sunscreen before you leave the condo. I have laid in the sun numerous times in my life and know that is the best way to keep from getting burned in places you miss when you wait to apply it at the beach. Or at least that has been my experience. Scott doesn’t agree with my rule and decided to wait until he got down and settled. I laughed and said, Okay, fine, but don’t whine tonight when you’ve gotten burned in places you didn’t cover!

We quickly packed a cooler, grabbed beach chairs and towels, and headed down to the beach with plans to stay all day.

Just the thought of being outside for hours is wonderful, I smiled.

Scott said, I wholeheartedly agree!

As we approached the beach, Scott said, Are you ready to take your first step?

You see, Scott knows that I absolutely love the feeling of putting my toes in the sand with that first step onto the beach.

As I put my feet down in the sand, I said, This feels amazing!

This feeling always erases everything else on my mind and allows me to focus on the task at hand, relaxing.

It’s about time we get to rest. After all we have been awake for at least two hours! We have rolled out of bed, drank coffee on the balcony, and gotten dressed. We have worked hard to earn this time in our beach chairs! Don’t you just love vacation?

The beach was as quiet as we had pictured. We only saw a few couples walking.

Scott pointed to a spot close to the water and said, Is this a good place?

I smiled and said, Looks perfect!

We set up camp and took a seat. This is the point where I was really glad that I applied sunscreen in the condo. I closed my eyes and got ready to float away in my mind.

Unfortunately, just then Scott said in the sweetest tone ever, Honey, would you apply sunscreen to my back? He knew that I wanted to say, No, you should have asked me in the room but it was the first day of vacation so I happily smiled, Sure honey, I would just love to!

We quickly finished the sunscreen process and were then really ready to relax. The water was clear and beautiful and seemed to say, Welcome. The gulf water was too cold for swimming in March but after sitting for a while we would still get to put our feet in and enjoy the water rushing over them with each wave.

Within just a few minutes I was reminded why the beach was my favorite place to sit and reflect on everything going on in my life. It is also a magnificent place to dream about events yet to come. As I lay in my chair with the sun shining warmly down on me, I immediately thought about my wonderful family. I found myself thinking about the many reasons they are such a blessing. Scott and I had just celebrated our ten year wedding anniversary on March 14th. A second marriage brings with it some ups and downs but we were at a happy place now. At the time we got married we lived in Charlotte, North Carolina, and chose to get married in Charleston, South Carolina. We absolutely fell in love with Charleston and always tried to visit there as often as possible. It was a magical place to have a wedding or just visit for the weekend.

Scott’s two sons