Do it and say it while you still can!

Beach monster

We haven't done well this week with meditation but it stands us in good stead when we have to say goodbye to people we love.

They live abroad and so we only see them when they come back or we go there.  We love seeing them and we and they pack in every customary summer event.  They see old friends and we do too, we swim in the sea no matter what the weather or the state of the tide, they catch crabs at Ramsholt, take the ferry to Felixstowe from Bawdsey and buy dover sole and lobsters!  We down pints at the pub, pick samphire on the muddy flats, play 7 up 7 down, go to bed pooped, early up with a grandchild perhaps snuggled in beside us.  The newest baby, though small, smiles and bashes her toy, the older children love her and then rush outside to the swing or the next thing.  Almost the best toy is the box which the new strimmer arrives in; long and strangely coffin shaped, it makes a perfect boat until the three of them try to get in together and then internal conflict breaks out.

Two beach monsters

We have done these things for years with our children, with their classmates when they were at school, with their friends and our friends and it is heartening when they want to come back and do the same things with their children.  Of course, in their memories, the sun is shining, the sea is warm and everyone is happy.  We know that there was rain and boredom and bickering as well but we all want to remember the good things.  We want to remind ourselves of the good things and pass them on to those we love.

I love this washing line

Alongside all this we see that old friends have left the village, gone to live in residential care homes, some have made it to the Church yard, some are still going strong, some are not.  We realise our energy has diminished, we are sooooo glad to get into our comfortable bed and not to quick to get out of it.  I relish the order of our grandparental life, relish the folded up towels, delight in the way the wind blows the clothes and linen into foldable dry clothes.  We realise our individual limitations but at the same time, love the fact that the great big universe is continuing to provide bliss for every new person.  Because we see how limited this little life is, it seems ever more important to make sure that we don't miss a chance to tell people we love that we do love them.   

Boys together doing and eating what boys love to do