Our Heaven

On Sunday Edie, my mom, sister and I will fly out of Dallas to Maine.  We will meet up with our hosts Nancy, Sarah, and Amy in Northeast Harbor, Maine.  I think I speak for all of us when I say this is our heaven.  I know for myself no place on earth is as dear to me as this town.  Like the pencil marks on a door that parents use to record their children's growth, Maine in late summer marks my growth and progress.  I remember being there right before I began college and I was so nervous.  I remember the summers I would run for hours through the town with all its ridiculously breathtaking views.  (I wish I could still run like that.)  I remember the early summers there when Alex and Amy would put on their shows such as "Late Night with Alex Hargrave."  I remember the climbing up Beehive Mountain (Liz and I often carrying Alex on our backs) or hiking to the trail head we never found.  We have stayed in rented houses throughout the town.  We probably know what the insides of more houses look like than many of the locals.  Considering I only go there once a year I still feel that when I arrive there I pick up a part of myself that I left there last time I visited.  Northeast Harbor, Maine and the island it sits on has shaped who I am and this summer it will begin to shape who my daughter is.  It is a tradition that I have to pinch myself to believe I get to pass on to her.  Thank you Nancy, Steve, Amy, and Sarah.  I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!