Making Memories

I woke up this morning with negative thoughts. I've worked on a synopsis for *Copper Penny* for so long and still can't seem to make it flow. Writing a synopsis is harder than writing an entire 80,000 novel! It is supposed to be written in the same style as the book and to have the same elements of suspense, action and emotion. And, on top of that, most are supposed to be only one page. I re-wrote and re-wrote and finally have something half-way all right. Good? I'm not sure.

My thoughts were negative until I remembered where I was a year ago and everything changed.

My girls and I were in Maui for a week. I love Hawaii and wish I could go every year just to feel the air and sunshine that's not like any place else I've ever been. I love ocean sunsets and sunrises. I loved sitting on the beach one evening for a long time just watching the water as the sun finally set. We took pictures of the water, of the sand, the sun and our feet in the sand. Then we shared the pictures with each other. Although most of our pictures were the same, we exclaimed over their beauty.

Sweet memories. That week was the first time since around 1979 that the three of us had been alone for any length of time. We rented a Mustang convertible and did many touristy things: whale watching, Luau, Road to Hana, eating seafood. We even tried our hand at snorkeling but that didn't last long. Sherri saw a fish and almost jumped out of the water. Jo Lynn didn't even try, and the waves were too strong for me. We needed to find a quiet cove to pull snorkeling off.

A friend who read my last blog commented that in the summer when she wasn't teaching and her kids were out of school, she did little besides be with them and enjoy every moment of their time together. In my opinion she can't do anything any more important than that. I wish I had some of those moments when my girls were young and we were together--just the three of us. I would have made more memories with them than I did back then.

But we made some memories last year. I'm so grateful that we had that time together and hope we can do it again. It is never too late to make memories with people you love.