A Good Run.

Don’t worry…this post is not about physical fitness..this is me, after all 😉
I just spent the past few days in Florida, at my dad’s beach house…aka “The Condo”…aka Heaven on Earth. The place that has hosted many a vacation for me and everyone else in my family. For the past 20 years, my dad very generously let us all use it for trips short and long, as often as we wanted…as long as we did a good clean-up on the way out. There were periods of time when I did not use it for years at a time, but, over the past few years, I have been there quite often…with my dad, before he died, with Paul, Jason and various other family members and friends. I feel not lucky…but, blessed to have had this place of beauty and nature and sun and sand in my life for so long.
But, like all good things…this, too, must come to an end. For us, anyway. It is time to move on. Deerfield Beach and the memories we all shared there will always be in my heart, though my feet may never touch the ground there again. When I turned 30, my dad and I took a trip there and then traveled down to the Keys, so I could swim with dolphins. We partied in Key West and got in the water with the dolphins hungover and happy. Then in 2010, we went down together again, for what would turn out to be his last trip there. On that trip, we stayed local, took care of some stuff in the house and visited some of his favorite restaurants. I worried about him a lot on that trip, but, we talked about a lot of things and bonded and it is a very special memory for me.
Yesterday, Lisa (my stepmother) and I listed the beach house for sale. My heart was in my throat the whole time and I wondered if we were doing the right thing. But, in the end, I know it’s the right thing- it’s expensive, none of us can get there all that often and he would not want us to hold on to it if we can’t use it. In fact, his specific recommendation was to sell it within 5 years of his death….always thinking, he was.
My uncle and his family had been there a week prior to my visit with Lisa. When we got there, we found an empty wine bottle on the counter, with some paper underneath. I admit, it took my too-full brain a bit to realize what the deal was. Lisa and I were to add our own notes to the ones they left and send it out to sea….and hope it didn’t wash ashore one town up in Boca Raton! I found this to be a very touching and fitting way to say goodbye.
I will probably be there only one more time- for closing. But, my heart will always be there.
We Schmid’s, Nanan’s, Demore’s, Law’s, Badal’s, Blake’s, Caputo’s and more had a very good run in Deerfield Beach, for sure.
This path has lead many feet and people I love right down to a crystal blue ocean. I hope it leads whoever lives there next to the same sense of joy, peace and happiness.
Thanks, daddy.