Florida

Good morning friends!

My Facebook is gone and I have more to say than ever. Brace yourself.

In 40 days I will be arriving in Florida for a Spring Break vacation with my Mom. For as long as I can remember I have loved the sunshine state. When I was young we took family trips to stay with my Grandparents in Sarasota and we also stayed at the Polynesian Resort in Disney World periodically. Try as I might, I can only conjure up a few negative memories of my time in Florida, and most involve tragically weeping the night before we had to fly home.

Seeing my grandparents in Florida was an unrivaled joy of my childhood. Although I suffered intensely from motion sickness in airplanes (my poor parents...) it was always worth it to be able to  run into my Grandpa's arms, blab to Grandma as she guided me in lots of crafty endeavors, and smell the freshly blooming Double Delight roses in the front yard. My siblings and I would ride bikes around the circular driveway for hours, draw silly pictures for Grandma and Grandpa, try to catch lizards on the front porch, and use the gigantic yellow binoculars in the Florida room to look for dolphins in the bay. When night would descend I can remember skipping around outside in the balmy beauty of twilight before we left to eat dinner at one of our regular restaurants: Bangkok, Phillippi Creek, or DaRuMa.

In Florida, dusk wasn't a time to be sad. It was a time to get dressed up and bicker about which kids got to ride with Grandma and Grandpa to the restaurant. I was often overwhelmed with my love for that place and the people I was surrounded by. To this day it remains my favorite spot in the world, and those memories are the best I can conjure. What a blessing it was to have such a magical destination to look forward to every year.

From conversations with my siblings and cousins, it's safe to say that it was a favorite place for all of us while we were growing up. Although typically my memory is slightly shoddy, I can count on my Florida memories to remain vivid for a long time to come. They are so lively and full of grace and love.

40 days from today I will be landing in the sunshine state. It seems like forever and it seems like no time at all. I think I'm a Floridian at heart, just like my Grandpa was. Who knows what the future holds, but I pray that in my lifetime I can create memories as breathtaking for my grandkids as my family made for me.

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday! Dwell on some good memories today - it will make your heart strong.

Love,
Charlotte