It was my destiny....

From the eyes of an eight year old little girl it was the most awesome and powerful thing I had ever seen. The sparkling blue waves crashing over and over mesmerized me. I briskly walked forward. My feet would dig into the sand just slightly. It was cool so the sand didn't burn, yet it still held warmth. I can still feel the salty waves as they crashed over my feet for the first time. The water was cold but tolerable. My sister and I raced along the shore laughing and splashing as we went while the breeze pushed us along. I was able to taste the salty air. I was surrounded by a salty ocean, flying sea gulls, and the laughter and love of my family. I had fallen irrevocably love with the ocean.

Well it's been thirteen years and I'm more in love with this wonderful display of Gods power and creativity as I ever have been. I just finished vacation and have seen this majestic beauty for the eighth time. (At least I think its only 8...) During my visits to the ocean I have collected many shells, made countless sand castles, swam with wild dolphins, caught several live sand dollars, caught one large conk shell with a crab inside it, and got burned every time.

This doesn't exactly explain how I was destined to love the ocean... only how I fell in love with it. You see when my mother was very pregnant with me, she and my father took a trip to Charleston. There is a picture that she brings out often and shows me as proof that even in the womb I was destined to be a beach baby. It is a beautiful picture of my mother (a little over a month before she gave birth to me) standing in the ocean and smiling the biggest smile she can. Apparently the whole time they were there I had to make my presence known by kicking constantly.

My mother had always wondered after I was born how I would take to the ocean. She tells me I took to water like a fish. I was the first to do everything in my swim class and would beg to go to the pool (as well as get a pool). If there was water you could be sure I wanted to be in it. The time came and my parents brought my sister and I to the ocean. My mom would patiently describe the ocean as my sister and I grilled her with all of our questions. We drove by for the first time and I begged Dad to stop the car so I could go play.

This brings us back to the beginning. As my parents took my sister and I back to the hotel that night all I could talk about was the ocean. I wanted to spend the rest of my vacation there. My mom laughed and told me there were a lot of other things I needed to see, but I was sold: Hook, line, and sinker. I was in love with the ocean.