Closure

Instead of a family event my "shoulds" tell me I "shoulda" gone to this weekend, I went to the beach.

It had been several weeks and not a day passed that I hadn't thought of that twelve year old boy who drown the last time I was there.

This trip was about closure for me. It needed to happen.

And I was grateful when I arrived at the beach. I thought I might have been in the wrong place because things looked differently.

As I approached the end of the paved road there was a warning sign about rip tides. It had not been there before. And there was a lifeguard stand with lifeguards....and another, and another...with caution flags warning of the level of waves.

It is still sad that a life was taken, no doubt. But it feels like it wasn't in vain.

And the water sounded a little less harsh as I breathed in the ocean.