My parents are getting ready to head out on a well-deserved cruise to Hawaii. (Yay!) I am so happy for them. I get my obsessive planning tendencies from my parents, so it has been funny listening to all of their preparations for the trip. One concern that I have though is that almost all of their activities revolve around snorkeling.
Snorkeling and I do not mix. Not even a little bit. Like many children of my time, I grew up watching Jaws. In retrospect, I think I saw that movie just as often as My Little Pony. I consider it a small victory that I am no longer afraid of sharks getting into the swimming pool. I am not willing to test this theory in the open ocean even in those safe, “protected coves”. I’ve seen that show River Monsters. I know where sharks can go.
Ok, back to the snorkeling part. I am going to share a picture of me snorkeling. Now, one of the benefits of having a blog (or facebook page or whatever) is that you get to pick what picture of yourself you’re going to use. I could pretend that all pictures of me are awesome. That is a lie, as you are about to see. See Exhibit A:
See? There, I told you.
It’s all supposed to be worth it, right? You’re going to see some amazing fish and coral. Sure, let’s check out Exhibit B: a picture I took of the “amazing fish and coral.”
All 36 of the photos I took that day look exactly like this (except that sometimes the 5 fish change position). Now my family assures me that there were so many incredible fish (blah blah blah) and somehow I just missed them. They also tell me that snorkeling in some other places is so much better and more beautiful (blah blah blah) than this spot in Mexico. Ok, fine. I believe you. I am willing to bet that the entire ocean looks like a scene from Finding Nemo with the exception of this one place. But next time? Just send me a picture. It will be just like I’m there (minus embarrassing photo, Exhibit A.)
The upside of all this? There is one family portrait from that trip that I truly love. This is our whole family right before we got back to safety (I mean, the boat). I think our family looks sort of cute here, all lined up with our snorkel masks.
When we got back from this vacation, our whole lives changed – in some ways for the better, in some ways – not. My sister met her future husband on the cruise ship. My mom, now a survivor, was diagnosed with cancer just a few months after this photo was taken. However, through it all, our family has stuck together — treading water, keeping each other afloat. Seeing this picture reminds me to never take an experience for granted, not even snorkeling.
Mom and Dad, I hope you have a wonderful trip. May you see all the fish I would miss. I hope they flock to you like a thousand happy, new memories — enough to hold onto until the next time. Maybe you can send me a picture.
Lots of love,
