Sasee Magazine

“Hey, Honey, I’ve got something to tell you,” my husband, Eric, said over the phone.

“Make it quick, OK? I just dropped the kids off with my mom, and now I’ve got to finish packing,” I said. “I can hardly wait to get on that plane!”

“Yeah, about that. The manager of the time share condo just called me. Hurricane Charley really did a number on the complex. They aren’t open for business.”

“What does that mean?” I asked, starting to panic.

“In a nutshell, our vacation has been cancelled,” Eric answered with a sigh.

“Isn’t there somewhere else we can go? Another resort that wasn’t hit?”

Eric sighed again. “The entire state of Florida is a mess right now, Honey. After Charley hit, they had to deal with Frances and Ivan too. None of the resorts down there are open right now.”

“Well, we don’t have to go to Florida,” I said, grasping at straws. “Isn’t there another place we can go? Call RCI and see what they say.”

“I did that already. They are all backed up with people like us that want to trade in their time share weeks because of the hurricanes. Basically, they said they’ll get back with me in a few days.”

“But we’re supposed to fly out tomorrow morning!” I wailed.

Eric assured me, once again, that he had made all the right phone calls and done everything he could do, but for the moment, it looked as though our vacation was cancelled.

I hung up the phone and threw myself on the bed. The disappointment I felt was crushing. We had been planning this trip for months, and I had really been looking forward to it. And now, through circumstances beyond our control, we weren’t going anywhere.

After a long, borderline-pathetic pity party, I realized how selfish I was being. People had died in those hurricanes. Thousands had lost their homes. Many people would be out of work now. It made losing a week of vacation seem like such an insignificant thing. I wiped my eyes and took a deep breath.

I wouldn’t be getting on a plane to the Sunshine State the following morning. But I wouldn’t be going to work either. And my kids were still at Grandma’s house. It was a small silver lining.

Despite my attempt to look on the bright side, I still complained all evening. “We just needed this trip so badly,” I whined at dinner. “We haven’t been away, just the two of us, in what seems like forever,” I said at bedtime. And right before I nodded off to sleep, I murmured, “I really just wanted to feel the sand between my toes.”

The following morning, I made a shopping list and went to the grocery store. I hadn’t bought food because we’d planned to be out of town all week. Since that had fallen through, I figured a shopping trip was a necessity.

I asked Eric if he wanted to accompany me, but he declined, saying he had some things to do around the house.

When I returned home an hour later, I called my husband’s name, hoping he’d help me carry in the grocery bags. He didn’t answer, so I brought in the groceries and put them away. I still hadn’t seen Eric, so I went looking for him.

I found him in the back yard, working on our kids’ sand box. He’d dragged two of our lawn chairs into it and put our patio umbrella between them. There was a small boom box on one of the chairs. When he spotted me, he smiled and said, “I mixed up some Mai Tais. They’re in the fridge if you want to get them.”

When I didn’t respond, he shrugged. “You said you wanted to feel the sand between your toes. I know it’s not the same, but it’s the best I can do for now.” He hit “play” on the CD player and ocean sounds filled the air.

I smiled, even as tears clouded my eyes. “You, my dear, are a wonderful man. Thank you for this.”

I sat down on the lawn chair, kicked off my shoes, and stuck my feet in the sand. I took a sip of the Mai Tai Eric handed me and sighed with something akin to happiness.

No, it wasn’t the same as vacationing in Florida, but I learned that with the right attitude, life can be a beach no matter where you are.