Sun Breaks

This has been a mean and terrible winter! At the beach, days have begun with massive wet gray clouds hanging low over an angry ocean with a bitter and biting wind blowing from the Northeast. As I ran on these days my life seemed to blend into the grayness that surround me. Gray clouds. A gray ocean. Gray sand. My life had turned gray and gray is the color of sadness. And it seemed that the winter just wouldn't end and the sadness went on and on.

Then there were Sun Breaks. Few and far between at first. But over the months they became more frequent. Shirley showing up for cheeseburgers after I had uninvited her. Johnny O and Judy and the other John and Trolly Joe forcing laughter into the grayness. Stacy breaking in expressing a love that I didn't know was there. Keller with a knack for communicating at the most unusual times which always seemed to just the right times. Sandy and Dave presenting me with a special pen as a way of expressing thanks for the writing. And Jodee, Cheryl, Val and Nick, Ryan and my family at the Breakfast Club who have been there for so many years. And Herb. Tracy. And Jeremy, Marie, and Kristen. And Chelsea who had some of the funniest things that caught me so off guard the laughter exploded into the sadness. And my Mom who understood with a depth that I had not anticipated.

So then today, the sun was a firey orange ball that climbed out of a glassy, calm ocean into a bright blue sky where there were no clouds. As it rose, the wind ceased and bowed at the holiness of a new day. As I ran, the white sand glistened and it seemed as though the sun stopped for a last moment to kiss the sea before continuing its climb into the day.

It was all so beautiful and stunning that I literally had to stop and honor it. A deep expression of gratitude welled up inside of me and it erupted out of my throat as a sigh, which I think is one of the holiest of prayers. And I knew at that moment that everything was going to be alright. And Bob Marley suddenly rose from the dead and began singing again and again. Everythings going to be alright. Everythings going to be alright. Everythings going to be alright.