James immediately took off his shirt and shoes and started to play in the sand and waves. Charlton found his favorite beach food without delay. Blerta and I sat on the blanket and talked for a while. I loved the warmth of the sand, the freshness of the ocean breeze, the monotonous sound of the waves on the shore, and the laughter of James playing with Charlton.
We had to cut our outing short, since today was a short day for my older children. Reluctantly, we said 'goodbye' to the ocean and sand, then headed home.The rest of the day was a typical day, with homework and chores to be finished, some reading, dinner, scripture study, and then bed for all of the children. This was the moment Blerta and I had been waiting for since dinner was done. Tonight, she was going to be introduced to Mr. Thornton, my favorite character of the great novel "North and South" by Elizabeth Gaskell. BBC has made an amazing adaptation of it with the very handsome Richard Armitage playing the role of Mr. Thornton. Those of you who have not seen this movie, stop now and put it on hold at the library or Netflix. If you have time, read the book as well. It's one of my favorite books of all time. One of them, anyways. Blerta and I had a wonderful time watching and talking about it. She had not watched it before, and although I had suggested it to her a few months ago, she had decided to share these moments of enjoyment with me. We had such fun arguing about issues the movie raised, and of course I would stand up for the capitalist Mr. Thornton and she would take Margarete's side as the compassionate and proud daughter of a clergyman. It is wonderful to make memories such as these. Next time, when I watch this movie again, I will always remember the jokes and comments we both made as we watched it, and no doubt I will miss my cousin. Next time we visit each other, this movie will travel with us.
