As many of you already know, I may not be coo coo for Coco Puffs but I am most certainly crazy in love with Galveston and the beach. Every few months a group of my high school friends plan a lunch down on the coast and invite as many of our classmates as can attend and because I have been so ill I have been unable to attend any of them. I promised myself if I was able to even crawl by June 30th, which was the date of the next one, Harold and I would bring the pop-up and Patches to Galveston and make a vacation of it. Days before our trip I watched friends from the area write posts on Facebook saying how it was 105 degrees on the “sandbar” and to take great care in staying hydrated and safe in the Galveston sun. Our son, Shawn, called to say he was taking his boat out because the water was an incredible green, clear and just great for catching huge fish. He told Harold he would keep the boat at our camp site so they could launch down the road and he would not have to bring it in from Houston. Harold was so excited he started packing four days before we were supposed to leave. The trip to any place you are excited to go seems to take forever but trips in Texas are always going to cover great expanses of territory. Thank goodness Patches cannot ask are we there yet? We timed our drive well and missed the worst of the Houston traffic but just south of the city came the rain but it was a sprinkling rain and I didn’t think too much about it…at first. Shawn met us soon after we arrived at Galveston Island State Park and luckily helped his dad put the pop-up together in the oppressive heat and humidity. Harold said something about wishing he could just leave it with Shawn and never see it again. Harold is not a fan of heat, humidity, mosquitoes or anything coastal other than seafood. We enjoyed Shawn’s company awhile and then set plans for a Saturday for Shawn and Minna boating, me lunching with friends and everyone having a great time and then on Sunday Harold and Shawn doing some fishing from the boat. Streak lightning in unprotected territory is a sight to behold and watching a storm come in from the gulf is beyond amazing. I do have to say, however, being battered by winds and rain in a small pop-up is not the most fun I have ever had and when I start to look for oars in the cabinets it makes me worry a little. Patches was the only one who slept well because he was snuggled next to me, warm, secure and protected from all that could harm him…or so he felt. Life is a funny thing because as I lay awake listening to the sound of rain and wind I found it a great comfort somehow. There are times in life when it isn’t about what is happening but where it is taking place that matters. Saturday morning the rain was intense but by Saturday afternoon when Shawn and Minna arrived it had calmed. I went to the luncheon, had a great time with friends and Shawn and Minna were still here when I returned. The weather had been too bad for any boating but they’d spent the afternoon having a great time with Patches and Harold. It was the first time Minna had ever seen the pop-up actually popped up as a camper and she fell in love with it…good thing because they are inheriting it soon. I spent the rest of the evening laughing with people I love, watching Harold and Shawn play bean bag toss and Shawn hold Patches while lovingly petting his head. I looked on as Harold grilled hot dogs, so happy to have Shawn and Minna there with him. Sunday Harold and Shawn did take the boat out but it could have been a scene from a Chevy Chase movie from them almost beaching the huge thing on man made reefs, to the anchor not holding, to engine trouble. Not only did no one catch any fish but I don’t think a line was cast. The good part of their adventure was they both returned safely. It may not have been our perfect little vacation and I only saw the beach from the seawall but sometimes it is the little things that make life truly grand. Life is not always about the things you plan in your head but what you do with what you have in your heart with the life you get. I love you all with all my heart and when your big hopes fall through the cracks pick up the tiny pieces and marvel at their splendor!