Reflections on the Fifth Week of Fall

 

On a mid 80°, sunny morning, Spence and I took Mom to the beach on Anna Maria Island. We pushed her wheelchair through the parking lot and across the pancake restaurant terrace. Then she held my arm and walked sixty feet across the sand. Spence muscled the empty chair. Mom picked a sunny spot just beyond shade trees. Because of the wind, she tied a headscarf under her chin and draped a sweater over her shoulders. She soaked in the sun, and we walked. Terns scampered in the surf. Gulls stepped aside when folks approached. I waded–waves crashed against my shins. Spence stayed above the water line and looked back to check Mom. He saw a man talking to her so we walked back to check. Mom said she'd had three visitors. A gentleman with an English accent offered to take her closer to the water. Two women just stopped to chat. Mom concluded the sun felt good, people were friendly, and she didn't need the sweater. A couple times on her walk back across the sand, Mom rested in the wheelchair. I admired her fortitude.