Ah…Paradise

I know, I know, it’s December and I should be talking about Christmas, snow, presents, tinsel, ribbon, etc., etc. Maybe later.

On the day after Thanksgiving, I was fortunate enough to take a four-day trip down to south Florida with my husband. It was beautiful. No other word can come close. Weather was perfect. Not crowded. Perfect. We stayed on Sanibel Island.

I spent the last day of our vacation in Bonita Springs. As a child, I lived there for a few years when my father owned a small restaurant. The historic part of the town is still in tact and I was lucky enough to find a few people who had never left. One who actually remembered playing with a little girl named Jody who had short straight black hair and bangs. The town as it was in the 1950’s will become an integral part of my second book.

As I sat on the airplane heading back to Atlanta, I contemplated every detail of our time on the beach, enjoying seafood, visiting a dear sick friend, and taking a trip back in time. Though we all see TIME as our enemy, always trying to beat it or kill it, maybe we are selling it short. Each second, minute, hour in our lives should be cherished, revered, honored. We’ve been given so little time, let’s remember the past, enjoy our present, and not worry about the future.

A tiny bit of my past was conjured up in Bonita Springs, Florida. I remember more now than I did before, but I wish I remembered every precious moment.

Oh, and the little guy in the cage says, “Merry Christmas!!”

Jody