Camelot

We had a lovely little trip to the Cape. WB's sister and her 2 youngest boys were there as well, and for 4 days we did nothing but laze around and go to the beach and enjoy good food. You have to be independently wealthy to live on the Cape anymore-- all the locals have basically been driven out by the rich folks. Our ability to go every summer will most likely end when Auntie leaves this world: she told me once (during happy hour, when she let down her guard) that all the remaining family wouldn't be able to pay the taxes. She never married nor had any children, so after her parents died she could afford to keep the house and property they had bought in the late 50s, before it was the hot place to retire.

It's a weird place to be emotionally-- knowing you're enjoying something that most people can't, just because you married someone who has a wealthy relative. It's kind of like trying on a new life and seeing that it still doesn't fit. We'll never be wealthy, and that is completely ok with me. (Gods willing, we'll never be poor either.) I will enjoy our annual trips until they come to their natural end, and know the kids and their cousins will have shared memories of Nauset Beach and marathon Monopoly games and keeping the whiffle balls out of the gardens, and it will be a part of what defines their childhood. If that isn't magic, I don't know what is.

While we were there, Eunice Kennedy Shriver passed. All the local news (which is Boston news) talked about her accomplishments, most famously starting the Special Olympics. The Kennedy's have a huge presence on the Cape, although not near Auntie's house. You got the sense that it wasn't just about a famous person dying, but about a great woman leaving the world better for her having been in it. We were struck by someone coming from such a powerful family using that influence for good. Rest in peace, Mrs. Shriver. You deserve it.