Wimbledon at the Beach

I had the good fortune of taking many summer beach trips with my extended family. My mom’s dad (the one that started Jim’s Steak & Spaghetti House) would make it possible for everyone, and he thoroughly enjoyed doing it for us. One of the greatest joys for him on the trip was watching Wimbledon, as it always coincided with our trip (Jim’s closes for two weeks every summer). He played tennis into his eighties, and the spectacle of Wimbledon was a treat for him as he vacationed.

This morning, on our first day at the beach, Federer faced Djokovic in the men’s finals. I wasn’t able to commit to the entirety of the match, but I caught the very beginning, and the epic end. For the first time since recently enacting a new rule, a final went to a tiebreaker after the deciding fifth set ended in a 12 – 12 tie. Unfortunately, Federer lost the tiebreaker, succumbing to the younger star. I flashed back to my Giddo, and a wave of gratitude washed over me. I am guilty of sometimes taking for grated the extremely fortunate circumstances of my life. I have experienced my own hard times, and some were very hard. But, putting everything in perspective adds light to any amount of present darkness.

I get to wake up at the beach tomorrow and make a French press and have a breakfast with my family on the balcony that overlooks the ocean… that’s amazing. No need to compare anyone’s outsides to my/your insides… that is the worst trap. Social media really makes a mess of things sometimes. I wonder how we are going to wash ourselves of this gigantic digital turd.