What is it about the sea?

I've spent a lot of time down the shore in my life.  I've been going to the New Jersey shore since the day I was born, I think literally.  I've been very lucky to have parents who enjoyed the shore and passed that love onto me. 

I spent most of my life being driven to the shore, riding in the back of a station wagon, shoehorned in between luggage and food.  Watching the world go by at a different point of view than the other people in the car.  Once at the shore, I spent most of my time on the beach, playing at the nearby park, fishing with my dad, brother and uncles, riding my bike or spending time on the boardwalk with friend's.  It was the best.  I remember those times as if they were yesterday.  The smells of the boardwalk and the ocean, the sounds of the birds and the waves crashing and the thrill of riding a big wave in on a boogie board.  I brought a few friend's to the shore and they have all grown to fall in love with the shore as well.

When I was old enough to drive myself, I spent late nights there and early mornings coming home to get to work on time.  Sometimes I'd go to and from the shore more than once a day for whatever reason.  I tried to get there every weekend I could.  I even tried living there during the summer, but although the idea was great, the follow through was terrible.  Too much drinking, too little responsibility and not enough of the kind of fun I longed for.

Ever since I was young I wanted to live at the shore, I thought that it'd be just as it was all those times I went to the shore with my family and experience all the memories I did in my youth.  So I tried instead of just for the summer, I'd live there all year round.  When I was in my twenties I had the opportunity to move in with my older brother and live at the shore for three years.  It was an experience to say the least.  First living with my brother was interesting, we had not lived together for many years since he was in college and then moved to the shore right after.  It was much different than I expected.  The shore still had all the charm that it did as a child but the adult part of me missed out on the friendships I had at home and the firehouse I had dedicated so much of my life to.  I tried to fit in, I joined the local fire company, tried to meet people through my work connections and my brother's connections but it was different for me, very hard.  I will always find this very interesting because I've always been a very social person and easily made friends.  After a snafu with the vehicle insurance, I had no choice but to move home and forgo living at the shore.  It was a hard decision, I loved it dearly there and miss it often, if things were just a little different I think it'd have worked out better.

Now that I'm older, my parents sold our original shore house and bought a newer, bigger and better home.  I now take my family down, my kids love it with the same passion that I always did.  They ride their bikes around the block, play at the beach until the sun goes down, make friend's at the playground and spend nanny and pops money on the boardwalk.  It's a different kind of great feeling and memory.  I hope to keep the tradition alive as long as I can.