We Slept Well Those Nights


 Yesterday at the beach, I watched a young man body surfing in the ocean.

He’d swim out to the breakers and time it just right, catching a wave at the perfect moment and riding it all the way into the shoreline.

Oh, how I envied him!

My orthopedic surgeon told me to stay out of the ocean for a year. He doesn’t want me getting knocked around, and the ocean has all kinds of nasty things that could find their way into a wound. I understand. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

So I sat on the beach and watched—the body surfer, the boogie boarders, and the people wading into the warm water, jumping the waves or diving underneath them.

I was lucky enough to grow up at the beach, so summer days like this weren’t a special vacation. They were part of my childhood. We could spend the entire day in the ocean.

I can still feel it all—the muffled sound when you dove beneath a wave, the tumble of riding one into shore, the sand in your bathing suit, the salt water burning your eyes.

And then doing it all over again.

We slept well those nights.

Funny how watching someone else enjoy a summer afternoon can bring back a whole collection of memories you didn’t even know you were carrying.

What is your favorite summer memory? ❤️

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