Back from Vacation
I just returned from a few days on the beach at Ocean Isle in North Carolina. My family has been going there every summer since the 70s, but there’s been a ten-year break since the last time we all met up. Things were just getting too tense for reasons I’ll probably write about in a book someday. This trip was lovely though. The family members who always made it painful stayed away, and all of the former children and toddlers are now the sweetest group of teenagers. I bought three cases of sparklers one night and we all ran around in the dark on the beach with colored sparks flying everywhere over our heads. It was magical and innocent in a way I haven’t experienced since I was eight. For the first time in forever I felt like our family has a very strong chance of staying together after our matriarch passes away. For years I’ve been scared we’d just scatter once that happens, but if we can keep this trip up once a year I know I’ll have my younger siblings in my life for good. I repaired a lot of damage with my father too and I think my anger is finally thawing out.
The best part was bringing Casey. Everyone was so accepting of us and he was his usual adorable and charming self. We spent a lot of time floating in the ocean and pretending we could stop the oncoming waves by punching them or shouting “YOU SHALL NOT PASS,” Gandalf-style.
As soon as the plane landed I found out that A) I’m going to be on NPR’s Talk of the Nation on Monday, and B) the Barnes & Noble on 5th Avenue has a huge window display of Pill Head facing the street!! I’m going to head over there tomorrow to take pictures, like a geek. A very happy and grateful geek.
