My youngest son, Benjamin, and I share a love of walking the beach for hours collecting rocks and shells. He and I have spent countless hours scouring the shoreline for bits of nature worthy of taking home. One thought both he and I share, is to to be very selective of the pieces we chose.We both agree not every rock or shell is worthy of bringing home just because it catches your eye on the shore. Although over the years we both have collected buckets and pocketfuls of rocks and shells, we always take the time to evaluate the collection, only selecting ones we truly want to bring home.
Even then, few rocks and shells actually make it into the house. Of course, we have our share of petosky stones and bits of blue slag from Lake Michigan, along with a decent sea shell collection including starfish and sand dollars from the Outer Banks. We love the bottles of sand we have scooped up from the many beaches we have visited together. However, nothing compares to the find he made one day along the shores of Lake Michigan.
We were scouring the beach at a park when he was so excited to show me his find for the day - a beautiful rock in the shape of a heart. Proudly, he brought the rock home and we framed it in a shadow box placing it on the mantel. Every time I look at it, I remember the small boy who brought the rock to me. To this day, when we are up north, he still refers to the park as Heart Stone Park.
We both laugh because somewhere along the way, we agreed that we like to think if we throw the mediocre rocks and shells back to the water, we will be rewarded with an even better find. I think the best reward is the the memories he and I share of our walks on the beach.
