Parallel Life

After a year of anticipation, our vacation in Rosemary Beach is over. Just like that. I don't know where nine days went. One beautiful, sunny day melted into the next. And suddenly we found ourselves cleaning out the refrigerator and eating all the frozen things from the freezer. As Mama, Sydney and I consumed pizza and ice cream and fresh corn on the cob that last night, I vowed that next year we'll stay longer.

It was a weird year anyway. It was our third year to go to Rosemary, but this year Mark only stayed for half the week. Exciting stuff is happening in his world. It's just that the timing was a little unfortunate. Mark's first day of his new job at his OWN company is tomorrow. So he spent the latter part of last week moving furniture and computers and office supplies into this quaint, old house on Music Row. (Go check out hearitfirst.com) It's the beginning of a new era.

But if we could live a parallel life, we'd still be in Rosemary. You roll into town and the pace slows. And it is so beautiful. Sally went with us for the first half of the week and she said it reminded her of Italy! The biggest decisions we had to make every day were whether to go to the beach or the pool and where to eat dinner. It's like living in a movie. Kids ride their bikes all over town. Sydney feels like she owns the place. She is so comfortable there.

One night we sat at our favorite sidewalk cafe with David and Shelley and their extended family. The restaurant is right next to "the Western Green" and the ocean is just beyond that. As the sun slipped into the Gulf of Mexico, we watched as grown-ups milled around with glasses of wine and children ran and played on the green. We ate and drank and told stories. And laughed. It was a perfect night.

Shelley called when they got back this afternoon. To commiserate. She said, "One of us has GOT to get rich so we can stay down there all summer!" Amen, sister!

It's back to work for us tomorrow. But in a parallel life we're asking one another, "So, do you want to go to the beach or to the pool today? And what's for dinner?!"