I Will Never Forget

September 11, 2001

Peacfulness

The Peace

I remember walking the beach collecting seashells and sand dollars. My wife, Charmaine, by my side hand and hand like new lovers on a first date. The day was cool, clear, and seagulls flew about in the fresh ocean mist.

"Honey, Charmaine began as we walked along, our feet smashing into the sand like a wave crashes the shoreline, why do you think it's so peaceful at the ocean?"

As I pondered her question, I look out across the water and viewed the horizon, it was shimmering with a haze like the heat lifts in July. The smell of the sea lashed my face as the mist sprayed my hair. I drift to thoughts from times past, where the beach and ocean had also captivated me, and begin to answer her question that I now asked myself.

"Charmaine," I said, "I'm not really sure why it's so peaceful here, but I would say that the beach is a meeting place of sorts, where people come for all kinds of reasons. Some come for fun and some come to sun, and many just to walk and run. But I believe we all come for one common reason... to kiss the face of God. Some know it and some don't, but whether we know it or not, He's gently kissing us back."

We continued to walk and collect our things for the better part of the day while the peace that surpasses all understanding kept our hearts, minds and souls.



"The beach and ocean are a wonderful place for me. I love the serenity I feel when I'm there; I believe there is no other place like it on earth. I wrote this small piece from a memory of my wife and I collecting things at the beach."

Gracie Watson

"Frozen in Memory"

Little Gracie Watson was born in 1883, the only child of her parents. Her father was manager of the Pulaski House, one of Savannah's leading hotels, where the beautiful and charming little girl was a favorite with the guests. Two days before Easter, in April 1889, Gracie died of pneumonia at the age of six. In 1890, when the rising sculptor, John Walz, moved to Savannah, he carved from a photograph this life-sized, delicately detailed marble statue, which for almost a century has captured the interest of all passersby.

Conrad Aiken's Bench Gravestone Inscription

AH! The Sweet Sense of Vision