kids of summer

My parents built their summer house in Wild Harbor in 1978. Quickly it became their all-year-round house.

I never lived in it, but every summer now, for 40 years, I've been a frequent visitor.

My parents formed quick friendships with many of the other homeowners, and their already large circle of friends grew.

The majestic beach and surrounding geography remain unchanged.

Though everything else has changed. 

New neighbors. New beach dynamics. Divorces. Marriages. Deaths. Moves. New Houses; old ones torn down. Pets that have come and gone. Children and grandchildren. 

And visiting only summers makes the changes more apparent.

The little girl that lived next door now lives in Dallas, is married, and the mother of three kids.

The small children that used to play with Alexander are grown and married, with one even now a practicing doctor.

Friends of my mother's kids are grown too, of course. On the beach today I talk to a handsome, successful, 49-year old man whom I've known for 40 summers. He now lives in Chicago with a beautiful wife and four kids, one soon applying to college. And his mother, my mom's good friend, has barely aged in all the time I've known her.

My mom's friends (some of whom are my age) all look great. Pretty much unchanged from summer to summer.  

It's just the children that are growing up.