Nuthin' Doin'

Our family have just spent the better part of a month just hanging out together.

For the first week, it was just me and the people, getting used to our new, temporary life in Jamaica.  Then The Mister came along for the last three weeks.  And it was - every last minute of it - 100% perfection.

Know why?  Because we were just sharing time and space together mostly just having simple fun.  The importance of which cannot be overstated.

In this moment of reflection upon our time there in Jamaica, I am becoming keenly aware of what a luxury it is that we were afforded.  I mean - one whole month of just chilling in Jamaica?  We did that - together.  (Do I need the disclaimer about it being our choice of work that is a major factor?)

Of course we did "things", stuff, adventures.  We visited with family and long time friends.  I hung out with old high school friends in the new lives as parents and grownups (!).  We got to watch a THE Olympic event (as far as Jamaicans are concerned) surrounded by a room full of energized Jamaicans - the kids seeing the vibrant and colorful way that sporting achievement is celebrated.  We went zip-lining in the mountains, we went driving through my favorite part of the island and visited one of my very favorite childhood spots: Frenchman's Cove.  The we were swimming and playing in the very same spot where my father first started teaching me to swim almost 30 years ago.    How amazing was it to share all that with my own children?!
It's kind of the most amazing thing ever.  A little.

Exploring at Frenchman's Cove

And still, some of the most magical moments were when we were just being together.  Down by The River.   Playing with and parallel to each other.  And being.  Doing nothing.

The meaningfulness, the profound worth and value of the time we had together can never be overstated.  There are ways that is creating something in our lives that even I don't understand.

In the doing of a tremendous amount of 'nothing' together, I believe we created at least as much 'something' - together.  Something that will outlast jobs, houses, photos; and that will echo into generations to come.  I can't name it, but I know it's real and happening.

Not so much nothing after all.