Wingaersheek Beach

Gloucester, Massachusetts

Even after all these years, it’s strange to think my children are growing up as New Englanders — the ocean at their feet, the mountains at their back. The prairies are all my heart ever knew as a child.

Will they remember these childhood days beside the sea? Will the salty, pungent air of the ocean bring them back to days exploring the coast side-by-side? When I smell hay or wheat, I think of home. How strange it is to know their memories and reminders will be so different from my own.

Today was our first time this summer beside the ocean. A day in the sand and sun exploring a new place with old friends. A day when my children ran always in opposites directions and kept me busy watching over each of them. A day climbing rocks, testing the waves, and stretching ever more beyond me in their independence and courage. So many days of motherhood are spent longing for my own seemingly lost independence. And then there are days like to today when I remember they won’t always need me beside them.

This is the ache of motherhood. The longing to see our children grow and change and to move on to the next thing. But also the heartache of looking back and knowing they won’t ever be this little again. They will never again need me quite as much as they do today. And though I am tired and though this stage of motherhood is so very intense and hard, it’s harder still watching them grow up and away from me — just as they should, just as they must. May I remember this on the days when I want to move faster and accomplish more. Babies don’t keep so keep them close while you can.


FIELD NOTES:

Wingaersheek Beach

Gloucester, MA

At the end of Atlantic Street off Rte. 133 and Concord Street

$30 parking fee

Visit gloucester-ma.gov and look for “Wingaersheek Beach” for more info

From the Website:

“This beautiful beach runs along the Annisquam River and Ipswich Bay. At low tide, the beach extends out for hundreds of yards and a long sandbar is exposed making for a great place to walk.”

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