How The Ending Of A Chapter Brings To Mind Good Times

Posted on by kimwilbanks

Life As Story

Life is like a story. There are main characters, minor characters, and a setting. The story ebbs and flows with ups and downs. Characters face and resolve conflicts, and the story usually includes plot twists — things you didn’t see coming. Parts of the story are exciting and full of joy. Other parts may be sad and full of grief or despair. Much of the story is simply the day-to-day living in this journey of life. 

I am a reader. I enjoy reading daily. Perhaps that is why I see life like a story. When I start a book, I can read one or two chapters at a time before I go to bed at night. Once I get into the story, it becomes more difficult to put the book down. However, there is a point in the story, near the end, when I can’t stop reading. I feel driven to stay awake until the conclusion unfolds.

My life story is not over yet, but this week my husband and I experienced the end of a huge chapter in our lives. We just sold our beach house on Anna Maria Island.

The Beach Chapter

The beach house chapter started on July 26, 2011, when we purchased a house right on the Gulf with my mom and dad. My parents were 75 and 74 when we took ownership and spent our first glorious night at the beach. Our kids were in college, and we did not know what their plans were or where they would land. We just hoped they could someday enjoy the house with us, and they did.

The early years were a lot of fun. Florida’s old charm lingered on the island. My parents enjoyed spending time at the beach with their friends, and we enjoyed the house with them. My husband and I got involved with a local church, and I even had a brief stint as a docent at the history museum. We rode bikes, walked the beach, bought fresh fish from our favorite fisherman, and ate lots of delicious seafood. Both of our dogs, Higgins and Boone, got to experience being beach dogs. It truly was a wonderful experience for almost all fifteen years.

Her wine glass in front of the sunset pictures was something people knew my mom for. My dad loved to sit in a comfy chair on the balcony and alternately snooze and watch the goings-on. He’s in one favorite photo, standing balcony-side, observing gulf waters. He’s deep in thought, and I wonder what he was thinking about: all the summers he spent at AMI as a boy, riding bikes all over the island with his friends or fishing on the Rod and Reel pier? His time in the Coast Guard? A rainy honeymoon at AMI? Teaching his two children the names of seashells and how to body surf? His friendships? How close he was to the end of his own life’s story?

Living A Dream

We did it, Dad! We got to experience our dreams coming true. All those years we spent when I was a kid talking about how fun it would be to live on the island. It took a while, but it finally happened (minus the bakery we were going to open).

And I experienced having a place where my children, family, and friends could gather. I got to share our home with ministry groups. Best of all, I got to watch my grandchildren play in the sand and squeal with delight as the waves chased them along the shore.

When It’s Time For The End

This chapter closed not due to one cause, but several: COVID, soaring island property costs, my parents’ deaths in consecutive summers, plus the September 2024 hurricane. Our children settled hundreds of miles away, and life and work kept them from visiting as often as we had expected. (But they both had some great times with their friends at the Beach Castle).

It was time for this chapter of our lives to end. There was a time when we thought we might live at the beach full time, but circumstances change, and that’s okay. It’s bittersweet for this chapter to end, but we have so many wonderful memories of our time at the Beach Castle. I’m trying to heed the words of either Dr. Seuss or Ludwig Jacobowski, a 19th-century German poet: “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened”. 

Things I will always remember:

  • When my mom’s attorney introduced the idea of buying a house at AMI to her
  • Looking at houses and deciding on the one
  • Sitting on the balcony for hours reading
  • Watching the storms come ashore (and willing the tourists to get off the beach before they got struck by lightning)
  • Seeing dolphins and manatees swim by
  • Watching the pelicans dive for food
  • The flock of green parrots
  • Walking Higgins and Boone on the island sidewalks
  • The treat jar at the big gray house
  • The History Museum
  • Walking to Bean Point
  • Beach fog in winter
  • MOPS Mentor Mom retreats
  • Visits from friends and family
  • Eating fish caught that morning
  • Seeing bioluminescence in the waves
  • Night skies filled with stars
  • Turtle tracks
  • Shopping on Pine
  • Ice Cream
  • Favorite restaurants, like Rod & Reel Pier and the Waterfront
  • Riding Bikes
  • The most glorious sunsets only God could provide

How about you? Have you ever experienced a chapter ending in your life? Was it hard to see it close? Were you relieved? Was it a little of both? I’d love to hear.

Also, I know some of my readers have visited the Beach Castle. Do you have a special memory to share? I’d love to hear that too!

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