When I decided to name this blog, I knew there would only be a handful of times when "thank goodness" would TRULY apply to the post and this is one of those times. Tonight and tomorrow are going to be tough days...Carol was such as special woman to all of us...my mother's dear friend and a true "aunt" to Max, Lola, Sam & Luke and all of us. She was warm and genuine. Like all true friends should be, she genuinely shared in our joyful moments and sincerely felt our pain during difficult times. She understood and embraced our family's closeness and we embraced her. It is not easy to wrap my head around the fact that she won't be with us on the beach and during her last days, she expressed those same feelings. It really pained me to know that she wanted just one more time to have sand between her toes, so today I took Luke with me to gather some sand and ocean water and just as I approached the water, a perfect seashell was in front of me. I will bring a piece of the beach to her this afternoon just like there will always be a piece of her in each of us when we go to the beach and especially when the kids search for seashells. As they say, "better to have loved and lost then to not love at all" so in trying to get through this difficult time, all I can say is thank goodness for the short time we had with Carol. She will never be forgotten and will forever be missed
