Sanibel Island off the west coast of Florida has always been one of my very favorite places on earth. I am so sad because yesterday it was decimated by Hurricane Ian.
When I was younger, I thought it would be really exciting to live in NYC or the Latin Quarters in Paris. But as I aged, I really became enamored with Sanibel Island, a quieter place. I often joked with my friends it was because God lived there.
Every summer for 25 years, my mom had paid for my sister and me to rejuvenate on Sanibel after our long school year. So after school was out the year my mom died, I took my daughter who is a teacher to Sanibel Island for a vacation. This would be the very first time my mother wasn’t there, and I would pay for the room myself.
The first night an alarm on the car parked near our room went off incessantly. In the morning we left a simple note on the vehicle asking if the owners could disable their alarm.
We didn’t think about the irritating noise or note again that day because we were having such a peaceful, relaxing time on the beach. Surprisingly, a tiny rainbow floated over us all afternoon. Although scientists say it was a natural phenomenon of ice crystals making the prism-like effect, we knew my mom was there.
Later, when we returned from basking in the sun, we found a letter posted on our door apologizing for the malfunctioning car alarm. It had been causing them problems for a while, and to make up for it, they paid for our room. We definitely didn’t want them to do that so we hurried to the office. The clerk pointed us to a young couple picking up buckets of shells on the beach. It happened that they were on Sanibel Island celebrating their wedding anniversary on June 17 – my mother’s birthday.
After that, I decided my mom MUST be living on Sanibel with God.
But Mom, where were you & God yesterday?
Jan, I can totally relate Sanibel is in dire straits for sure. We are in Bonita Springs and we have been truly blessed and our only inconvenience was we were without power for almost five days. We do still have a curfew from 9pm to 6am but that never affects us!
I love these kind of stories Jan. So sorry to hear about the devastation there, but you always have the memories. Praying for all those affected by the hurricane. I agree, your Mom was there when that rainbow appeared. As you put it, God and your mother were winking at you two. You know me, those rainbows hold a very special meaning to me.