Love Is The Only Gold

I have been attempting to write our travels in chronological order, so if you see our little one bald or with very little hair we did not have another baby.  God blessed us with one miracle more than we deserved.  So this was our second trip back to Naples, Florida and Sanibel Island and it was in June of 2013.  It was our sixth wedding anniversary and we chose to celebrate it with our 18 month old back at the first beach to which we had gone as a family.  I wanted to make it a yearly tradition.  At the very least I wanted to visit a beach each year, as our little one’s name means “star of the sea.”  I had not had the privilege of visiting a beach until I was about 24 and in the Miss Texas USA pageant.  I love Texas, but our beaches simply cannot compare with Florida.  It’s like being in another country (not that I’d had much experience with that either.)  Looking back through our pictures apparently we’d gotten there on the day of our anniversary.  I remember quite well our dinner because it was in a fancy golf resort overlooking the ocean.  We ate unfashionably early but we had a stunning panoramaic view of the ocean and there was another unfashionably early family there with two young children.  I am VERY proud to say our child was a saint and did not fuss, cry, or act up in any way.  (Thank you Lord.)  I was past nursing and I was grateful our server wasn’t judging me for my 7 & 7’s.  We had a lovely dinner and we could see the ocean’s waves right outside our windows.  They folded them open and we could even smell the tangy salt in the air.  It turns out there were tiki torches because a wedding was taking place right outside on the beach.  After our meal we wandered out and I snapped this stunning picture.  I also encountered the shocking discovery of “No-See-Ums.”  We’re from Texas where, much like Australia I’m told, everything can get you.  But I had never before encountered these horrid invisible bugs that attack before you know what hit you!  I was red and completely broken out!  So we went back to our hotel room at the Waldorf Astoria and were greeted by chocolate covered strawberries.  I happen to detest them so I fed them to the hubs and the baby.  However — I LOVE a good quote, as surely anyone who has ever read one of my posts can attest.  With the white chocolate covered strawberries came a card which contained a quotation by the Victorian Poet Laureate Alfred Lord Tennyson.  It read:  “Love is the only gold.”  And as I looked at the picture I had captured of the setting sun over the ocean, and gazed upon my husband and daughter, I realized its truth:  love is the only gold.

Facebooktwitterpinterestmail

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *