A PROMISE KEPT

The terrain is becoming familiar. It happens when one stays too long in one place. We no longer need the GPS to find the grocery store, the gas station or the fabric stores, we just know where to go.

We've fallen into a routine, another sign we've settled in. We walk the boardwalk before breakfast and after lunch we take our chairs down to the beach, take off our shoes and get a magic pedicure as we walk along the wet sand; it is glorious.

The fishing pier is a mile north of us, the statue to King Neptune a mile beyond; both easy destinations on a warm sunny afternoon. Yesterday we headed north to the pier and as we got close I watched a man walk down to the water's edge, take out a container and pour dust on the water. I knew immediately what he was doing.

When he finished he came over and we chatted briefly. His wife had passed away last December. They had met 62 years ago on this very beach. Yesterday was their anniversary and he fulfilled his last promise.

He turned and walked back across the beach, we continued walking north under the pier thinking of our own mortality. We talked, walked a little slower, held each other a little closer and silently wished the moment would last forever.

Chance encounters can have such a powerful impact.

Thanks for stopping by and safe travels everyone.