“The waves broke and spread their waters swiftly over the shore. One after another they massed themselves and fell; the spray tossed itself back with the energy of their fall. The waves were steeped deep-blue save for a pattern of diamond-pointed light on their backs which rippled as the backs of great horses ripple with muscles as they move. The waves fell; withdrew and fell again, like the thud of a great beast stamping.” – Virginia Woolf, The Waves.

By Dawn Onley

I hold both of his hands as he jumps over each wave, karate kicking the bigger ones for added measure. The waves are the bad guys, threatening to knock him off of his feet. Although the waves want to bring him down, to topple him, he’s way too strong for that. He has muscles. He is Iron Man. I’m Wonder Woman and together, we can win this epic battle.

For the waves that are too big, he calls his daddy from his resting perch to help fight. After all, some jobs require Captain America’s assistance.

Then he says something that stops me in my tracks: “Mommy, the waves aren’t bad. They just want to go home.”

“Home?” I ask.

“Yes, look at them. They’re home,” he answers, pointing to the shore.

Isn’t that something? Out of the mouths of babes.

Some waves eventually will recede and embrace the shore. It is the cadence of the ocean and a beautiful sight to behold with all of our senses. That my son recognized it made me smile. It made me think about the ocean and how it always makes me feel like home. I may not live permanently at the sea, but the sea is always home to me. I feel reenergized and restored at the beach. It is where time always stands still. It serves as an immediate reminder that God is real, and great, and expansive and omnipotent.

The sea is my happy place. It always resides within me. Right at home.

“You’re right, son,” I say. “The waves have come home.”

“Like as the waves make towards the pebbl’d shore, so do our minutes, hasten to their end.” — William Shakespeare

“This journey has always been about reaching your own other shore no matter what it is, and that dream continues.” — Diana Nyad