On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, my 11 year old son took our dog for a walk on the beach and found a message in the bottle, resting at the waters edge. It was a Gatorade bottle with the letter, 3 – $1 bills, a pack of Skittles and a pen. He picked it up because he saw the money and brought it home. When our family read the letter it brought us to tears. It speaks of how you should live your life, and suggested that the universe had chosen Thomas to receive the letter. The intriguing part is it was addressed to “the adventuresome beholder of this message” and written by someone who had less than two months to live. It is ironic that this message fits Thomas perfectly. I am certain this message was meant for our family. My father, Thomas’s grandfather, died 4 weeks before after a relatively short illness. It really speaks to how important it is to be a good person, live a good life, and cherish the good things in life. It is a message important for everyone.
Outer Banks Hotline Festival of Trees
Signs of Christmas are all around us on the Outer Banks. Heck, we even had a 3 hour snow storm the week before Thanksgiving! While traditions around the country start to kick in, one of the happiest traditions on the Outer Banks is the 20th annual Outer Banks Hotline Festival of Trees.
OBX Marathon 2008
Diary of an Old Hurtin’ Runner
So the 2008 OBX Marathon has come and gone, but a week later it is still a lasting memory. Every time I try to get out of a chair I am reminded of how bad it hurts. It was the thrill of a lifetime however. Here’s how I remember it going: