Gift from the sea.

Today at the pool, I was completely taken with a particular kid. He was 8 or 9 and horsing around and playing catch with his older brother / cousin.

I nudged My Guy. "Babe, I've totally found your spirit animal," I said. "Look at that little boy! You guys are obviously bonded on a spiritual plane!"

Spirit Animal was a solid, energetic kid with dark brown hair. He was a bit squirrelly, and his joy at playing catch in the pool was just intoxicating.

He wasn't loud or obnoxious. He was just ebullient.

He reminded me so much of my sweet husband, who loves nothing more than playing ball, who can be so squirrelly-yet-sweet that I refer to this common state as "monkey on a trampoline."

Our kid might have looked like this boy. Except we aren't going to have a kid.

This made me momentarily sad. Oh, woe is me! Lounging around a pool at a posh, beach-side resort! My poor barren self is so tiiiiiired after reading a book a day and having bloody marys delivered to my chaise louuuuuuunge! Bloody marys I can down with abandon because I'm baaaaaaarren!

Sigh.

I love the beach. There's something about the ocean that's so soothing and centering. And all the walks on the sand and pool time has helped my brain - and My Guy's - clear a bit.

Yesterday, he turned to me out of the blue and said, "This summer has really sucked."

Boy howdy. You speak the truth.

But we've also had many conversations about how blessed we are to be here, and how wonderful our life together is. As 2 people who had each, individually decided that we were destined to be alone forever, the blessing of a best friend spousal unit is especially sweet.

We don't know what's next. But we know it's all OK.