Blessings from the Sea

   

 

    I grew up in the little hamlet of Sayville on Long Island, New York, just a five-minute walk from the Great South Bay. Several ferries to Fire Island left from a dock at the end of our street. I took it for granted that I could visit the ocean beach almost any time my family or friends invited me to go. Every summer I spent as much time as possible swimming, sunbathing, getting burnt, and collecting shells. 

    When the time came for me to "spread my wings," I decided I had to get off Long Island so that I wouldn't have to drive through city traffic in order to travel anywhere else in the country. I also thought it was time to trade the ocean for mountains, and a different kind of scenery. I met my husband in the Rocky Mountains of Yellowstone Park. Later we lived near the Blue Ridge Mountains in Tennessee for seven years, and then 32 years in the Catskills of New York. 

    The mountains of upstate New York are beautiful, but I missed the ocean that had been such a big part of my childhood. An ocean trip became a rare event, and I never again took it for granted when I had the opportunity to walk along the shore and swim in the surf.  The energy that emanates from waves crashing on the sand is more exhilarating for me than any other life experience.

    Now that we live in Wisconsin I am further from the ocean than ever before. I have arranged my treasures from the ocean on top of my bookcase to remind me of one of the places where I feel most connected to God.  The beach painting created by my son, Peter van Laeys,  evokes joyful days spent on various shores. The shells, sea urchin, and smooth stones have come from different beaches, and the blue sandpiper was carved by my father, Eugene Lissandrello. 

    One of the books on the shelf below this scene is Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, an old favorite with yellow pages. In her introduction Anne writes about how one's mind, at the beach, "begins to drift, to play, to turn over in gentle careless rolls like those lazy waves on the beach." The seashore is the place to go when we need to relax and let our thoughts float aimlessly. If we can't go to the beach, we can at least sit and gaze upon the artistry of each object we have placed in our seascape at home.