Slow Down…It’s Summer

Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh is one of my favorite books.

I read it for the first time about 10 years ago and it remains a book that I gravitate to each and every summer since my first reading of it.

Actually, I discovered Anne Lindbergh’s book many years before I actually sat down and read it while enjoying an idyllic vacation on Martha’s Vineyard.

Martha’s Vineyard-Edgartown

My hard cover copy is signed by my father, who received it through his “Book of the Month” membership in the 1950’s. I remember seeing this book around my house growing up and being pulled by the title to open its pages. But at the time, I was actually too young  to understand or appreciate what Anne Lindbergh was discussing…although I surely could appreciate her love of the sea.

The sea has always made me feel at peace…my earliest experience of the ocean’s ebb and flow was actually at Rockaway Beach in New York. My grandmother’s dear friend, Alice had a bungalow there, where we would visit and soak up the salt air and play in the sand.

Other happy memories of the seashore included many trips to Jones Beach on Long Island.

It was an adventure with my Dad…since my parents were divorced it was my special time with him. He shared with me his life long love affair with the sea which I have inherited and carry with me to this day. He was an avid competitive swimmer. I always admired him from the shoreline as he swam back and forth way beyond the break of the waves. He taught me respect for the water which is ever our friend as long as we revere its strength and power.

July brings the heat of the summer and with that, out comes my copy of Gift from the Sea. Each time I read Anne’s words, I find new meanings…in my eyes she speaks to all women. Her book says different things to a woman depending on what is going on in her life at the time.

So, I hope you will relax with me, and open a copy of this book on your Kindle or buy the hard copy and jot little notes on the side of pages that pop for you.

Let me know if you are along for the read and most of all “Enjoy your summer!”

P.S.

I revisit this post each year and do a fresh edit in my effort to thank Anne Morrow Lindbergh and the effect her beautiful words have had on me!