From the time I was a kid the beach has been my happy place. As a kid it was The Lakeville Lake, hours spent there, first just playing in the sand and shallow water. Then it became hours of Swim Team practice, and swimming lessons, followed by lifeguard training. I was happiest at that lake, even with all its weeds and it’s murky bottom. Then I learned to sail, it allowed me the freedom on the lake. To go only where the wind could take me. Being at the mercy of the wind, it was a wonderful thing. Peaceful, calm and quiet, no one arguing or complaining or fighting with me. Just me and the peaceful lake.

My family wasn’t much for the ocean. My father has a serious dislike for sand, compounded by my brother dropping a handful of it in the chips when we went to the ocean when he was small. To be honest he didn’t care for the lake that held my heart either.

As I got older the ocean was the place I went to relax and heal the stress in my life. It didn’t hurt I went to college on the CT coast, and just a stones throw from the ocean. Once I was married and the boys came along we camped at the beach every year. It became their favorite place to. To play in the sand, boogie board in the ocean or make sand castles and dig huge holes when they were little.

Now that my life is in disarray, and my heart is crushed, the beach is where I go to find peace. It relaxes me, the stress is gone for a while. It is just me, my kindle, the waves and the sun.

Giving me a semblance of peace at this moment. I will take what I can get and work with it.