Life is a Beach

I am looking out at the beach far below.  I see my friend struggling to get her kite into the air.

There are five of us here together for my birthday celebration.  A getaway.  A retreat for women who enjoy each other’s company.

Of all of us,  I think she enjoys it the most.  She’s a California girl.  She grew up with sunny beaches and  warm sand.  She is drawn to sea.  It calls to her and she responds.  Yesterday as the rest of us sat on the deck overlooking the ocean we suddenly realized she had been gone too long.  Grabbing our windbreakers we began the search.  We soon  found her.  She had fallen asleep in protected area below the cliffs, nestled into the sun-bathed sand with her feet buried in it.

Watching her today I am overwhelmed with memories of the last years since she was diagnosed with breast cancer. (To  read about it click here.)  The visits with her to the doctor’s office seem like long ago and like yesterday. The visual of her in the oncology ward with a drip in her arm is vivid.

The chemotherapy left her with severe neuropathy and she was determined to overcome it.  We floated together  in a warm pool – doing our friend therapy as much as soaking her feet.  We worked together in her garden, her on a stool and carefully moving between the rows.  A year ago she was still using a cane.

But she’s a fighter.

And here she is.  I am overflowing with the  joy of watching her stumping around the driftwood and tide pools. 

She’s is up and down these stairs.  She is clambering over the logs and rocks to get to the surf.  She is alive.  She is well.

I am thankful.

xxoo