I’m Grateful

Both my boys graduated from college this year. It’s hard to believe really. I remember balling when they went off to college, it seems like it just happened. But somewhere in the “just seems” I blinked. The next thing I know, I’m watching them walk across a stage. It was surreal.

To celebrate this new season in their lives, in our lives too, we decided to take them on a trip to the Bahamas. If there is a place, where paradise existed, a true paradise where Love abounds, for me, it would be the Bahamas. That is my most magical place in the world. I’ve written before about how my wife and I had to rescue our oldest son when he jumped off a cliff in the Bahamas; he got a concussion and an airplane ambulance ride to Nassau’s Doctors Hospital. That was a scary time, but Love held us the entire time we were there.

I guess that’s why I love the Bahamas so much. For me, it is a place where Love abounds. Every time I’ve been there, I see shades of Love that sweep me off my feet. The people there have always been so kind to me, when they didn’t have to be. The memories I have made there are filled with so much joy, so much kindness and generosity, so much goodness.

For example, on this graduation celebration, we took a sunset dinner cruise around Paradise Island. While on the cruise, my oldest son, 5 years removed from his Bahamas’ concussion, was going to take a picture of my youngest son and his girl friend. My oldest jumped down on the landing of the boat and his very expensive camera lens flew out of it’s case and into the ocean. In one second both my son said he went through all five phases of grief. But also, in that same second, the captain of the boat saw what happened and he immediately stopped the boat.

He asked my son, “Was that a lens?” My son, assuming the lens was gone forever said, “oh it was nothing, it’s okay.” The captain said, “No, we are getting that. I have a camera. I know how expensive lenses are.” The captain then stopped the boat and put it in reverse. In other words, he interrupted a sunset dinner cruise that 37 people had paid for to rescue a lost camera lens out of the ocean. And he did. He had his crew guide him and they recovered the floating lens.

I didn’t even know lenses could float. But that’s not the point. The captain’s actions and efforts weren’t about the lens, they were about the love. He didn’t have to look for a floating lens lost in the ocean. He didn’t have to stop the dinner cruise. He could have said, “Well, that was unfortunate,” and carried on. But he didn’t. He did what I assumed improbable, he got the lens. But that’s what Love does, it does the improbable.

And that’s why I love the Bahamas. Time and time again, I have witnessed the improbable there. I’ve witnessed the kindness and generosity of Love there. And somehow, I will find a way to go back again and again because I know what’s there.

I know I don’t have to go to the Bahamas to experience the presence of Love. But I also know that when I do go to the Bahamas, I will. And those moments, those memories, they are worth it to me because they change me; they make me grateful.

Gratitude is an interesting feeling. It’s like a warm response to Love, almost like a desire to love Love for the sake of loving. I don’t really have the words to express what I’m trying to say, but genuine gratitude can melt you, in a good way.

So that’s it. That’s my story. I’m grateful.