With my dad getting older and unsure if I
will make it back next year to a wonderful vacation place called
Treasure Island Florida, I got to thinking about the memories. I know
you have time so I'm not going to be that silly Daddy who doesn't want
to interrupt because I know you're going to say you're in Heaven and you
have all the time there because there is no such thing as time there.
Okay, that sounded silly itself didn't that?
You
don't need me to share about how my great-grandparents found the place
in 1966 when they had driven someplace, found it not that good, and then
just drove up the beach to a motel called Suncoast. That started the
tradition of staying in Treasure Island, the Suncoast was the first of a
variety of places.
You've also no doubt heard
of how when my grandparents and Mom and I went down in the 70s oh,
Grandpa would do like he did at home, sometimes jokingly stepping out
the door and acting like an outfielder making a barehanded catch with
both hands. Only I didn't know he had an egg hidden somewhere and so he
would return showing me that he had caught a flied egg. You heard about
that too, and all the other fun memories.
I've
shared that with others, as I have what Grandpa would say to get me to
try new foods, that it grows hair between your toes. It's great to share
those things because I have the chance to pass things on that were so
special. That's one of the great things about having such a wonderful
and loving family, that we can do that.
But
there are some things that are better to experience, like feeding the
seagulls and taking so many pictures of those even when cameras were
limited to 24 pictures and you had to get them developed. Or how much
fun it was to go to the sea castle each year and walk the beach, one
year at midnight - an hour before it closed - because that's when are
shuttle got in after the plane got in to the airport at 11 p.m. And then
setting a record for latest going to bed at 1:02 a.m. that lasted,
well, only 8 years till the 1984 Summer Olympics opened. It just felt
like longer because that was over half my life once that record was
finally broken when I was almost 15.
I would
have taking a late night stroll with you on the beach just to let you
experience that fun, how amazing it is that the weather changes once the
sun goes down and the wind starts picking up. I'm sure you would have
enjoyed a late night swim or two like I did last year. We'd have had so
much fun walking the beach and going to different restaurants,
especially our favorites over the last few decades.
I
think the netting prevents seagulls from stealing a hot dog like one
did mine when I was little oh, at the public beach. But we have still
seen birds flying so close it's incredible. And then the silliness like
when my mom change the lines of a sudden a bit while laughing out loud,
singing "Mona Lisa Mona Lisa why didn't you tell me?" We had so much fun
there, even though there's that one intersection that's so bad that my
grandpa literally pulled an Alan Shepard (an astronaut who peed his
pants on purpose to let coffee out because the g-forces might have
ruptured his bladder since he was delayed on the launch tower for a few
hours) because he couldn't wait to figure out how in the world to cross
it because there are about 5 different roads that intersect at it. Yeah,
if we would have gone without someone else we'd be crossing a little
further down the beach at Sloppy Joes to get to Gigi's.
Who
knows what fun new memories we have made as well. I avoided looking
silly by pretending to carry you on my shoulders as I walked back to our
room at my uncle's timeshare a few times, I actually spend a lot of
great time in prayer when swimming and walking like that. So there
wasn't really the need to do that. However, I have found myself asking a
few times if the Lord could give me a beach somewhere near my heavenly
mansion.
Yes, this is where I so easily hear
you giggling and whispering oh, "it's a surprise Daddy." It's so amazing
what God has for us, we can't even imagine the Wonders that await us.
That makes his grace and mercy even more amazing, because Jesus Christ,
God in flesh, die to take the punishment for each of our sins and rose
from the dead and all one has to do is call on him and trust him as
Savior and receive his free gift of eternal life by faith alone.
There might be people just reading this blog who call out, "Lord Jesus, forgive me for I am a sinner, come into my heart and make me new inside, I trust you as my savior, that you died to take the punishment for my sins and rose again, and I invite you into my heart and life today."
That’s
all anyone has to do as long as they’re trusting in Jesus by faith. It’s
not about a church or anything, and Jesus makes them new so their “want to”
changes.
So
many other funny things, like someone putting cigarettes in a clam’s mouth in
the ‘70s, or somehow managing a return flight when our usual airline went on strike
with 2 layovers and 3 different airlines in ’79. And so many others. But, I'm sure you're just grinning and saying, "Silly Daddy, I'm in Heaven. The stuff here is more amazing than anything there." And, I know that factually. It's just that sometimes, at tiems like this, there is a part of me that wishes I could build sand castles with you, or other fun stuff. But, it's great to know where you are it's so much mroe amazing - and it's where I'll be someday, too.
Till that time, God has given me the imagination to dream, and the satisfaction of knowing I can help others know they'll be there someday, too. And the ability to imagine, just a little, tat I've shared fun stuff like that with you.
Till we meet in that place where there will be no more sorrow, or parting, or anything bad.
Love,
Daddy
