A Beach Scene

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Suggested listening: The Beach Boys' "God Only Knows"


I watched my daughter carry her sand bucket to the ocean, dipping it into the water, and I thought:

"Seven years ago, none of this existed."

The daughter, Laila, still a dream locked in my stomach, just hours away from making her right-on-time debut.

The beach house, a hard-earned home-away-from-home for my brother and our family, now on loan to me.

And the man next to me, dark hair curling to outrageous life thanks to the saltwater, head bent over a book, one of the best and biggest surprises of my life.

My life is so different now.

What a beautiful and full different it is.

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