Last weekend we had our annual beach trip with the cousins. We were back at the same house where we stayed last year, in Lincoln Beach, Oregon. We had lots of sunshine and fun times. I can only speak for myself, but I can pretty much guarantee that this getaway is a favorite annual event for everyone involved. But aside from spending 4 days together, we knew that on this trip we had an important job to do~let my mom's ashes free in the sea.....just like we did for my dad.
7 cousins that just can't get enough of each other. They have SO much fun together!
Susie and the girls.
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| Serious action shot! Carrie, Ella, and Catie playing some down-set-steal on the beach. |
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| Uncle Greg and his 'crazy' nieces and nephews. |
Cousins playing catch on the beach at sunset.
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| Of course, lots of hot-tubbin'! |
Shortly after we arrived, all of the grand-kids wrote a letter to grandma and put it in a bottle, and threw it out to sea. Very sweet.
On Saturday, we brought G'ma's ashes down to the beach.
S'mores and Jiffy Pop Popcorn at our beach fire. The marshmallow roasting was great, the Jiffy Pop, not so much. Char-pop was more like it.
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| My lovely family. |
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| Susie, Dini and I enjoying a cocktail on the beach next to the fire. |
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| Susie, Mark, Kathy, Greg. I am so blessed in the sibling department. |
Greg came over on Saturday so that we could say goodbye to mom. I just know that my mom was watching down over all of us on that sunny beach and was enjoying every minute of it....her final adieu was exactly what I imagine she would have wanted. All of the grand-kids got a balloon and they had a 'grandma' thought, then at the same time set them free.
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| Balloons are going up to find G'ma! |
Up, up, up they went together, until they were the tiniest of specks in the distance.
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| My mom would have loved the fact that each of her grand-kids took a little 'pinch' of her, and put it in the sand or the water. It was a lovely way to get a little bit of closure on their hearts which miss her. |
Then the 4 of us Slater kids took a stroll down the beach to the same spot where we were with my dad's ashes, and did it again.
She's free.
We miss you, G'ma. We'll see you in the sand~or in the water~or in the breeze~wherever you may land around us.
We miss you, G'ma. We'll see you in the sand~or in the water~or in the breeze~wherever you may land around us.
We all decided that we're done with this little ritual, and it won't be welcomed back next year.
1 comment:
Touching, poignant post, Kathy. You have me in tears. You have such a lovely family, both in your siblings and with all the cousins...Love reading your posts.
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