Florida Family Weekend!

I think my Grandma had a lot of courage and foresight. Back in the 70's my Grandpa Anthony bought a house that he planned to retire to for him and my Grandma Marie. The house was a little two bedroom ranch house just a short walk from the ocean. This was back when any land west of I-95 was nothing but lemon and orange groves.

As it turned out, my Grandpa would die of heart disease long before he would get to enjoy the fruits of his labors. Instead of coming back up north to Westchester where she raised both my mom and aunt, she decided to stay in Florida.

When I was a kid, we would take trips down to Florida to visit Grandma. I really loved getting to spend time with her, but as soon as we said hello and dropped our bags, I made a full sprint up to the beach! I would spend hours in the ocean on my boogie board getting rocked by waves. And by night, we would eat all the amazing food my grandma cooked and hang together in the living room watching movies.

As time passed, more and more family started to migrate south. Trips down there began to be opportunities to not only visit Grandma but visit Aunts, Uncles, and cousins (so many I can't even keep track of them all).

Back in 2011, my Grandma passed, leaving the house to her daughters and grandkids. Her memory is still very much a part of that house for me. This passed weekend, I had my first opportunity to go back to that house. Fortunately, it was for a very joyous occasion: a surprise 50th wedding anniversary for some close cousins. I was also humbled to be asked to take photos of the party!

It was a great event. So many aunts, uncles, and cousins that I haven't seen in years. I feel as though I need to review the family tree before going into any of these situations. My Grandma was one of 9 brothers and sisters. I have cousins that I've never even met.






It was also amazing to get out of the New Jersey winter for a couple days. While it may have been cold by Florida standards (temperatures really didn't get out of the low 70's), I still took the opportunity to go swimming each of the three days I was down there :-)

I've been itching to get in the water and photograph some shore break with my GoPro. Water temps in New Jersey have been in the low 40's and without a 5mm wetsuit, swimming in pretty much impossible. So while the air temp in Florida may been in the 50's and 60's the water temp was in the low 70's, which actually felt like bath water compared to the air.

I am looking forward to warmer temps and longer days here in New Jersey :-)








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