A few years ago I managed to gather our family in a beach house on North Carolina’s Emerald Isle for Thanksgiving week.  I’m still overjoyed when I think of it.  We walked the beach, played in the waves, collected lost treasures, watched dolphins, danced, cooked, explored the island, and bonded.  Some met our baby granddaughter or new son-in-law for the first time.  Our three-year-old grandson met the ocean.  He ran 50 yards to escape an incoming wave.  How was he to know how far that wave would chase him?  My mother, who was still adjusting to life without her husband of 61 years, reveled in a houseful of loved ones.  We celebrated the recent wedding, three birthdays, and a blessed Thanksgiving.

Much as I’d love to do it again and again, gathering five families on a distant shore may be a once in a lifetime feat.  This pandemic year, we won’t be able to share a meal, but we can share a beach house full of joyous memories.