The Ocean Claims Her Own

I took my boys for a holiday along the Oregon coast in 2008. They were so much smaller then… and less vocal- what happened?

Our first stop was Lincoln City. After breakfast, we spent the day on the beach. The boys had never met the ocean before, so they were both overwhelmed and excited. They rode waves near the shore on rented boards, buried each other in sand, and swam out too far all day.

We gathered our beach gear as it neared sunset, but could not find my oldest sons shoes. We combed the beach, little John sobbing uncontrollably because they were his beloved pair of Nikes, and even though they were starting to fall apart from sheer love, he was bonded something fierce with that pair of shoes.

They were black, and would have been easy to spot on the now almost deserted beach. We assumed the ocean had claimed them as her own during high tide and eventually had to leave as it was growing dark.

We spent one last night there, then packed up and headed out. We visited Newport Beach, Seaside, the Tillamook farms for fresh cheeses, and a number of touristy boardwalks and tiny beach towns over the next 5 days. Then drove back up the coast.

The kids had loved Lincoln City so much that we stopped there for the afternoon on our way out of Oregon. Rented a board again and enjoyed the surf and glory that is the Pacific Ocean.

Little John and I decided to walk along the beach after high tide to look for sea glass. That’s our thing- we both love stones and sea glass. Ever searching for the elusive red sea glass.

No, it couldn’t be.

John and I just stood staring, mouths agape.

There, up against the seawall, were his shoes! Sitting side by side!

On closer inspection, it appeared the ocean had tied the shoelaces in knots to keep the pair together :)

They were terribly waterlogged, even the leather was a gooey mess of ocean ooze. But John hugged his now thirty pound swollen Nikes and thanked the Ocean for returning his beloved shoes, his tears adding to the salt of the sea.

It took three weeks of sun to dry them out.

To this day I swear she spat them out because of the smell. They are boy shoes after all.

Speaking of shoes, here's one Shoe :)

Thank you @mariannewest for starting this #freewrite challenge :)

And thank you @vibeof100monkeys for inspiring this!

Disclaimer: I continued a minute after the 5, I had to finish my thought :)

I appreciate your support :)

With Love and Light and Good Mojo to my Tribe!