If you could open a door to anywhere, where would you go? Part II

First, those of you who shared your answer to my question (If you could open a door to anywhere, where would you go? ) Thank you. It is good to know that some of you spun on the question, as did I. But, I was impressed by many of you who just knew. Love the thinking behind the question.

If you could open a door to anywhere, where would you go?

I might open the door to Cannon Beach, Oregon June of 1974

Playing with my brother and sister on the beach while my mom watched from the deck of our beach house. Wave diving was our favorite and we would go out until our feet were touching and the waves were hitting our chest. We would let the waves carry us back to shore. My siblings were wanting to go out deeper and had told me to go back into shore.

My dad would tell us over and over not to ever turn our back on the ocean. So, I was hopping backwards and letting the waves hit me and bring me to shore.

I was watching my siblings wave dive – they were pretty far out - when a very large wave hit me. My sister must have sensed something because our eyes were locked as the wave hit and knocked me over. But the wave wasn’t alone, it carried with it a drift log. And, within seconds, I was pinned. Just like that.

I wouldn’t go through the door to prevent it from happening, but I would go through it at my current age to witness it, to fill in the gaps in my memory and to replace the blurry faces with real ones. The face of the crying woman who tried to keep my head above water. The faces of the three men and one woman who helped my mother pull the log off of me. And the faces of the two lifeguards who cleared my mouth of sand, wrapped my ribs and bandaged all the cuts.

I know my mom did over and over, but it would be nice to see if I said thank you to these strangers. I sure hope I did. But, if I didn’t at that moment, I know I have said thank you millions of times over the years.

Happy Thursday!
-srt