The Why We Are Here
A Buffalo Moon Press Memoir
Who remembers catching fish off the IRB Pier and mourned its loss when the hurricane took it out to sea. The sands on IRB and the waves absorbed your tears in joyful life moments and sad ones. We all like watching beach people come and go talking about sands and tides and the moon ya know? And my husband and I met a recent widower there and struck up a conversation with him as his heart was healing. He stopped as if tilting an object to the light to gain perspective. The Red Lion....and Keegans which was a clothing store called The She Shop....Remembering The space shuttle launches if you look in the right spot. The Beach Art Center so artists could paint....and our once upon a sleepy time old bridge from long ago…. your family can experience the historical Marker….before the one we have came into being. Pier 53 that is now Holiday Inn and oh those quaint Rock Houses dotting the beach.... my uncle owned the one with the historical marker on 12th and Julio has it now. What Irb looked like before and how it looks now still has that old school feel with the "no more than so many feet high signs" that keep it quaint. The beach goers in and out of season..... the beautiful sunsets and the coffee shop now reopening again after we sadly watched it close. Has your world been there on that beach and was every life decision you made there as huge as mine was? IRB having the welcome vibe of everyone around you....because we were all here to find that one thing... and we fell in love with IRB... every bit of it.. every beachy inch! All the good...the not so good and the brilliance of every wave that came onto the shore. Morning coffee strolling, sometimes families of stingray and porpoises and surfers and just the hustle bustle in season and the dead quiet out of season. But we are all here because we love this place called IRB. I will probably get teased because of the sentiment here but that's ok - my heart is forever here and the IRB Salt life does that to those who visit.....and this is the beach that grew me up, got me married, watched my mom die from cancer and even watched grandkids renew the next generations love for the IRB TRADITION. . Since 1972.... my family and I have been here... loved and died here... isn't that "The why" we are all here??? To create more reasons for all who experience this magical place. ❤
