Perspective

I had the opportunity to take my daughter, who is 6, on a trip to curaçao. For a single mom this was a really exciting gift to say the least. The time there was truly amazing. We both got the chance to snorkel and swim with a family of squid...which was a life changing experience for me. The squid were iridescent with polka dots and they changed color too! They didn't seem to be afraid of me, merely cautious. It was so very wonderful!

I also saw a seahorse!! A moray eel, parrotfish, lion fish, sea slugs, an octopus, puffer fish and much much more. If you have never had the chance to snorkel and it appeals to you i would definitely add it to your bucket list. One of my favorite parts about it is how completely quiet and peaceful it is immediately when you put your head in the water. There is nothing but blue water and a whole different world to explore. (As long as you are brave enough..right Kayce?!)

The really big thing about this trip though was just getting to spend time with friends. To sit and tell stories at the end of the day. We would all meet at night and they would load the video and photos of the day from their dives (I didn't scuba dive) and we would watch the screen together in anticipation of the next sea life that would pop up and wow us. We would swap funny stories about the day or maybe mostly make fun of my equal parts love and fear of the huge ocean and what bungle it lead to that day. (: We would sit outside on the balcony every morning and listen to the exotic birds calling while we sipped coffee and stared at the teal blue sea. We spent time together. You know, that elusive thing called quality time that we all want so desperately. 

When we left this morning Charlie cried. When we all hugged goodbye this afternoon to go our separate ways in Miami we both cried. As I sat on the plane I thought about how much my heart hurts at times that I don't have my mom to call and tell all my stories to and I thought about how I have created a family around me of people whom I love so much that it breaks my heart to leave them. I think that in this life we are given gifts (or we find them for ourselves) and all we have to do is have the perspective to appreciate them. We have the choice to wallow in what we don't have or create a life we love. And yes, the trip was amazing but the reason we cried wasn't for the beautiful squid we were leaving behind it was for our family.