Don't wait for the good stuff

Hey y’all!

After a brief hiatus, I have returned.  The last few months have been a whirlwind.  I can hardly believe it’s April already!

Warning: This portion of my post is kinda sad, but I promise it gets better.

Last year, my father-in-law went to his doctor’s office for a checkup and for a lung cancer screening—he had been a smoker for years and figured the odds were that he was destined for lung cancer.  While he received a clean bill of health in other areas, the doctors discovered a spot on his back that would end up being stage 4 melanoma.   Over the next months, he and his doctors tried everything to control it, from surgeries to extensive treatments.  My husband and I flew back to Iowa several times to visit him and help him in any way we could, as did the rest of his family.  And then, at 59 years old, the father of 5 and grandfather of 13 passed away in the wee hours of the morning on March 29, 2015.  Our hearts were, and will continue to be, broken.  He was loved by just about everyone who met him, and was taken too soon by a thoughtless disease. 

May is Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention month, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t think about it other months of the year.  Protection from the sun has become a very big deal in our household.  From choosing the right sunblock, to wearing a hat, to donning UV protective clothing—my husband and I will never again subject ourselves to the harmful rays of the sun unnecessarily.  The skin is your body’s biggest organ, so take care of it like you would any other part of your body.  I will be posting more about skin protection options and sunblock in the future, but for now, let’s lighten the mood.

The focus of this blog is to promote the idea of a coastal mindset regardless of your geography.  Its secondary mission was also meant to be an account of my journey of chasing my dream of living on the beach.  In recent months, chasing that dream has been the least of my concerns, thus the hiatus.  My father-in-law really got a kick out of my husband and I constantly going on and on about how much we loved Sanibel.  We talked so much and so highly of the island that he took us down for a vacation in January because he wanted to see the island that had stolen our hearts.  We spent a week there with family and friends who had never visited the island, and they all finally understood why we never stop talking about it.

 One of the things my father-in-law really wanted for my husband and I was for us to live life how we see fit, not how others think it should be lived.  He was proud of us for wanting to choose the beach path less traveled, and supported our dream of someday soon moving to Florida. 

It’s time to get back on that path.  We’ve started downsizing our belongings, trying to focus on keeping only what we really need. (And of course, a few things that we just really want.  We’re not animals, you know!)  We’ve looked at housing options and have made a financial plan.  Our dream is on its way to becoming a reality and I can’t wait to share every step with you guys. 

Life is too short to wait for the good stuff.  The truth is, none of us is guaranteed to grow old.  We never know what’s around the corner, so I’d prefer my corners to be draped with bougainvillea.

So join me on my journey of following my heart, won’t you?