"You’re not going to see people like this again for a long time, he said & I said I always saw people like this & he looked at me for a moment & said, You’re not from around here, are you?" Brian Andreas, Traveling Light

Back now on Minnesota soil, surrounded by the blinding light of sun on snow, I have found myself daydreaming about last week’s trip to the beach. I have been caught staring longingly off into the distance, remembering the green grass, brilliant colors of flowers,warm temperatures, sumptuous food I didn’t cook and the slow pace that usually overtakes a person when they have the sound of surf as their background music.

I have also been thinking about the interesting people we met and those we only observed. One young woman in particular keeps coming to mind. Thursday afternoon we walked the sand on Hilton Head Island. People were running, riding bikes, flying kites, reading and just sitting, soaking up the sun. I was walking with my head turned toward the water. That’s when I saw the first fin move above the waves. Soon there was another and another and then people stopped to watch. Dolphins!

As we stood there staring, my eyes were diverted by a young woman in a bathing suit and tank shirt, camera in hand. She was walking in a way that was so determined I had to stop looking at the dolphins and watch her. Her long, lithe strides took her right into the icy, cold water, her arms now lifted high above her head to keep the camera dry. She was so focused, so intent on getting as close as humanly possible, I began to feel this affinity with her desire. Inside my head I was cheering her on. "Go, go, swim as near as you can….swim with the dolphins!"

The beautiful mammals moved down the beach, following the wind and waves. Someone called out to her, "Look, there they are!." She was now an extension of all who watched. But she was the brave one, moving through the waves, the water nearly up to her neck now. She was close to them now but they of course kept moving while she was pushed constantly back by the power of the waves, the force of the undertow.

Back on the land, a woman dressed in warmer clothes called her name. Her mother? Finally, she began to move back toward shore. Did she get the picture she wanted? Did she get close enough?  I don’t know. Somehow as I left that scene I was certain of one thing. I am sure that was not the first time the one who called her name had seen the determined, confident walk that led her into the sea. A smile began to form on my face…..and I stood a little taller.

"I hope it will be said we taught them to stand tall & proud, even in the face of history & the future was made new & whole for us all, one child at a time." Brian Andreas