An Unconventional Love Story

When I said yes to my husband's marriage proposal, I did not have any grandiose ideas about having a big wedding or even a reception. There was only one thing I had to have, and that was a nice ring. A wedding ring to me is sacred and it represents the everlasting love between a husband and wife. Hopefully. But in addition to that, my wedding ring is what I will wear everyday "till death do us part"...... so I wanted one that I really really liked. Well because I am such a nit picker, I mean selective shopper, I ended up designing the rings myself and having them custom made.  Our jeweler did a wonderful job and I fell head over heels in love with my ring at first sight.

Then the worst thing happened two years later...I lost my ring!

I had been hiding this little dark secret from my husband for three months.  I just couldn't bear to tell him I had lost it, after all it had cost him a small fortune.  To make matters worse, I knew exactly where I had lost it and there was no hope of ever retrieving it.  You see, I had lost it in the ocean. Way out in the sea where Jaws and his crew hang out......probably.  It was only a matter of time before my husband figured out the real reason why I had not been wearing my ring and I was beside myself......and out of valid excuses.

Well, the very next day my mom and brother came for a visit and I got this sudden urge to go to the beach and collect shells.  I love beach combing so why not?  My brother on the other hand could care less and refused to go with me. For some strange reason though, my mother and I relentlessly begged him to go with us until he got sick of us and gave in.  (To this day I find this quite strange since it is out of character on both sides.)  When we got to the beach the tide was low, so low you could walk out about a quarter of a mile on the sand banks which my brother did by himself.  Mom and I stayed closer to shore picking up beach goodies, there was so much beautiful shells to choose from that day.

getty images

 All of a sudden, my brother who was out so far he looked relatively smaller, starting yelling.  My mother and I rushed to see what was wrong.  He seemed quite excited, he was waving frantically at us and jumping around. When we got within earshot of him, he was grinning ear to ear.  "I found something he said."  What is it?, I asked eager to see.  He slowly opened his hand and there nestled in his palm was my ring.  The one I had lost three months ago in the ocean.  My mom recognized it instantly and asked me "Wan, isn't that your ring?"  All I could do was gulp.

Turns out my ring somehow serendipitously reappeared out of the abyss after three months in strong sea currents and miles of shifting sand. My brother finding it equates to finding a needle in a hay stack. He said he saw a small beam of light emanating from the sand out of the corner of his eye.  Those were his exact words. Trust me, I am still in awe of this, I mean what?!!!  That beach is huge, plus the ring was buried under 15-25 feet of ocean for months.  What are the chances....and my brother had almost stayed at home too. All the planets had to be aligned just right for this to have happened, and they had. To this day, I just call it what it was. A miracle. My husband and I love each other so very much and our rings are a symbol of that love.  Maybe that is why it found it's way back to me.  Back to us. ...well that is what I believe anyway.

Since this incident, I wish I could tell you I never lost it again but I did lose it once after that nine years later.  And you know what, it found me again under very strange/unlikely circumstances. Call me crazy but in my sixteen years of marriage, because of the times I lost my ring, it is even more precious to me.  It is so true that you never realize the value of something until you lose it.....even if only temporarily.  I realize now that it is not the cost of the ring that matters so much to me but the cause of the ring.  It's all about love. And so lovelies, today on Valentine's day I wish you love.

Cherio!

There's No Place Like home

My brother's girlfriend went to the Bahamas recently and shot these exquisite pictures. They really made my day.  I live in Atlanta now and even though I love it here, I miss home. I miss the laid back lifestyle, the food, the music, and the ocean......especially the ocean.   Like Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz, "there's no place like home." I feel you girl.

When I was a little girl I would take my fishing line and spend hours sitting on these rocks trying to catch a fish.  I loved to feel the little nibbles on my line, even though I could not see the fish that was doing the nibbling below the waves.  It was always fun to imagine it was a huge fish although I never did catch a fish more than eight inches long.

In my family, there are five of us and we were all aquatic creatures almost as soon as we could walk.  This is my little brother in the picture, he is a very experienced diver and fisherman as is my dad and older brother.  As good as they are though my mom is probably the best at fishing.  That woman is no joke.

If you have ever snorkeled before, there is something magical about being under water.  It's like a whole other world.  The colors are so vivid and beautiful and there is so much life, tranquility and peace while you are down there.  Time seems to stand still.   I used to spend hours diving and swimming, I never tired of it.  Ever.

Sunsets in the Bahamas are spectacular, each one is different and more amazing than the last.  The only thing that can make it more amazing is watching it with the one you love.  My husband and I spent many evenings watching the sun go down.  These pictures brought all those cherished memories back.  It's amazing how precious the little moments are...the ones that we think are not so important at the time.  Like sunsets, dancing with someone special, dinner with friends, a reassuring smile or pat on the back....

So, here's to beautiful memories and enjoying life.  Take time to smell the roses, like right now, and if there should come a time when there are no roses to smell, you will still have the memories.  Forever.

Cherio

Things that make you go hmmmmmmmm

A few years ago I was in South Beach Miami hanging out with one of my best friends.   Out of the blue, and a very talented and sought after European Artist approached me and asked me if I would mind being his muse for a painting.  Of course I was very flattered but I wanted to know what that meant exactly.....hopefully nothing that involved me being nude.  Well, as luck would have it, he just wanted to paint a painting based on his perception and overall feelings about me.  He proceeded to talk to me for about two hours and a week later this is what he painted.  He dubbed it Wandalania!  

To be honest, when I first saw the painting I could not get past the nudity!  When asked what I 

thought about it, all I could gasp after a very long ackward pause was ".......uhhhhh..ummm........its cool"  Trust me, it was not cool. Nope, not even a little bit.

 You would think being an Artist myself, I would be used to seeing this by now, but somehow this was different.  This nude figure is his perception of me.  Why am I naked?!!!!!.....did he perceive me as being provocative?.....a diva?..........incomplete or conflicted?  I hate to admit it but I went deep into the cerebrum on this one, I completely over analyzed his art, which by the way sold for thousands to one of his wealthy South Beach clients.  Of course that didn't mean anything to me, so, I filed the picture of the painting away and totally forgot about it until yesterday. (I was sorting through old stuff)

Now that I am looking at this with fresh eyes I see so much more than what I saw at first.  I see my love for animals, water, plants and the earth.  I see myself on a path fully embracing the journey with confidence and swag.   Try as I may though, I dont know what the little figure disappearing into me is....maybe it symbolizes growth, like as I grow, the older weaker me is swallowed by the more stronger better me?  What do you think, any ideas? 

Cherio!

And I say to myself....What A Wonderful world!!!

Hello World!!

Hello everyone, I am so excited!! This is my very first blog post and I couldn't be happier to meet new friends, learn and explore.

I am an Art addict/creative spirit and I have been this way since I could remember, lol, no complaints here. There is so much beauty in the world and in this blog we will discover some of them together. As an Artist I love to challenge myself to do things that are "out of the box". Here are a few pieces of some new beach glass mosaics I have been working on.... I love beach glass, who knew discarded glass overtime could be so beautiful.