Margaret, Sam, and I began this year in my favorite place. After spending a simply terrific New Year's Eve as Jill and Joe (and Rita's) guests in Bay Head, I woke up on New Year's Day and, shortly after sunrise, I went for a run. Sam I Am stayed home. When the wind barrels out of the northeast at 10+ miles per hour and makes an already brisk 38 degrees feel like a bracing 27 degrees, man runs and beast does not. My decision elicited no complaint from my faithful canine running companion.
There is no way that I enjoy welcoming the arrival of the new year more than by running at the Shore. On New Year's Day, I headed east towards the water for a couple of blocks before snaking my way south into Spring Lake.
Spring Lake September 11 Memorial
New Year's Day 2021
I ran through Spring Lake for a bit and then turned east towards the water so I could run north - to home - on the boards...into the teeth of the aforementioned northeast wind.
Spring Lake - New Year's Day 2021
It was very cold. Yet, it was even more calming and serene.
Belmar - New Year's Day 2021
As I ran, I thought of Mom. I thought of how much she loved the beach and the ocean. I thought of the peace it had brought to her - especially during the final twenty years of her life when she lived in Jupiter, Florida. I thought of how much peace it brings to me. And I smiled.
Belmar - New Year's Day 2021
My love of the beach, my reliance upon it to center me, and to bring me peace is my inheritance. Here, forty-three months since her death, I remain indebted to her for it. I always shall be.
Love you, Mom. My love for you is something that neither time nor memory shall fade away.
-AK
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