Ghosts on the Beach

We just returned from a five-day trip to Southern California, where William played in a water polo tournament and we went to cheer him on and visit my sister, Karen, who lives in the San Pedro / Palos Verdes Peninsula area. Karen and I (and our brothers) went to high school in PV, and I spent every summer there from age 17 to 22.

The boys had not seen PV before, and we drove them around, pointing out the schools, our old house, our favorite restaurant (The Red Onion), the hill above Lunada Bay where I stalled my first car - a manual - practicing driving with my father. We went down to Redondo Beach so the kids could scamper in and out of the freezing water, watching the higher-than-usual surf pound the shore. I pointed out the gorgeous pool at the base of the cliffs, closed now, where I had taken lifesaving class.

I went for a walk down to the pier and back - the old four-mile route that John and I used to jog/limp and where friends and I roller-bladed. I walked briskly along with Panic! at the Disco in my ears and a ginormous grin on my face as I took in the scene: seagulls pestering the hundreds of folks picnicking on a warm February day, families skateboarding and scootering down the path, groups of folks playing volleyball at Avenue K, where we used to play in the evenings before grabbing dessert at The Cheesecake Factory.

Through the misty haze I could almost see the ghost of myself - clad in favorite Rolling Hills High School sweatshirt and bright yellow leggings - crouched to receive a volleyball. I peered into the face of every forty-five year old I encountered as if I knew them, as if we would possibly recognize each other after all this time.

Joy spilled over at my ability to share such a fun part of my life with the kids, to see the boys dancing in the spumey surf and Aden snapping photos right and left. It serves me right that both older kids are ready to move to CA tomorrow despite our warnings about high costs and earthquakes. If they head there for college, be sure that I will visit regularly to visit both the old ghosts and the new.