Editorial: I Disappeared for a Week

I disappeared for a week… well, actually six days. Left town, didn’t check my email, didn’t check Facebook, didn’t watch the news, drove nine hours with two little ones and a husband in tow to put our feet in the sand and leave our worries in Tennessee. We went to Gulf Shores, AL.

The first time the kids saw the beach was in 2022, and they have been mesmerized by the sea ever since.

It was love at first sight the first time CJ got knocked down by a big wave. Daddy held on to his lifejacket and pulled him back to his feet. We were down by the pier.

Savannah built sandcastles and was scared of the waves. She was a few weeks shy of her third birthday, but the most determined, excited-about-life two-year-old you’d ever meet. Her hair was little golden ringlets on her head, now it is half way down her back. CJ was 4 and in his first year of pre-k.

Those moments will live rent free in my mind forever. How little they were, how much they’ve grown and how much it is still their whole world to be able to spend a week at the beach, just the four of us.

Fast forward to 2025, I think CJ spent the whole week with an inner tube around his waist.

He’d wake up at 5:35 every morning, put on his bathing suit and sunglasses and impatiently wait for mommy and daddy to put down the coffee and take him to the pool! And the kids would go full speed like that until about 8:30 p.m. every day.

Can’t afford to miss a moment of the experience.

For me, the goal of a vacation is to show them something new. Because you and I have been on this earth for a while and have seen all the things, but they have seven and five years of experience respectively, and to show them something they’ve never seen or experienced is more valuable than gold to me.

This year, both kids were scared of the ocean waves. Rightfully so, as there were yellow and purple flags out, meaning moderate currents and dangerous marine life present; but the waves were breaking near the shore and we didn’t venture past hip deep.

I asked Savannah to trust me… and after some resistance, she decided to stand with me in the surf. I told her to turn her back to the wave and jump just as it hits you – she giggled every time a wave would hit her.

I think this moment made her whole vacation. She conquered her fear of the ocean and she learned something new.

My mom’s side of the family used to take regular beach trips together when I was a kid. I was always in the ocean or building a sand castle. One year the jellyfish were so bad, I lost count after 22 stings on my body. The pain becomes relative when you’re having that much fun.

So when I saw a big jellyfish getting closer to Savannah and me I said, “time to go,” without giving a reason. If she knew, she’d be afraid to ever try again.

I just realized the jellyfish story sounds like a metaphor for life. Nothing good in this world comes to you without a little bit of pain and also… when life gets tough, turn your back to the waves and roll with it.

A lot of my life lessons seem to fall on deaf ears with the kids, namely, why does it take so long to get to the beach… because everything good takes time to get to… (kids repeat the question)... Because it’s child endangerment if I drive this car any faster and I don’t feel like catching a charge or going to jail today, especially not in the middle of Mississippi!

Real life with two kids 18-months apart is they fight like cats and dogs, and when one wants to love on the other, the other declares it an act of war.

There was a lot of fighting to which I responded by saying a lot of things that don’t qualify as gentle parenting. In my defense, the children were not gentle childrening.

Despite the conflicts and occasional thunderstorms, it was a great time. We made lots of memories that I hope the kids will make with their children someday.

Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain.

What you look for, you will always find. It is important to find the good in every situation and hold on to it.

You are the author of your story, so make it a good one.

I did check in on you guys a few times last week… what in the full moon and Friday the 13th in the same week happened while I was gone? Torrential rains, power outages, and flooding?! I hope y’all are ok.

Here’s hoping this week is better. Stay safe!