Gift From the Sea

In 1976 my Dad was transferred to the Canal Zone in Panama. I had just graduated from Ricks College in Idaho and I moved back to Fairfield, California to be part of this move. I wasn't going to miss out on this adventure!

Panama was one of the most amazing places I've lived. It was a magical time; the right time, the right place and the right people, and I loved it there. Panama is where I learned to love the people of Latin America. Panama is where I continued to clarify myself. It was a great time.

I had a friend in Panama, Linda Bryant, who lived just a few houses away. She and I would head out to the beach pretty regularly. Our favorite was Foster's Beach, named after the private owners who gave us permission to use it whenever we wanted. It was an hour or so up-country and sometimes Linda and I would go and sometimes a bunch of the Young Adults in our branch would go, and once in awhile I went alone. Mostly it was Linda and I, and we'd just jump in her car and take off on our own through the jungle roads and the ocean roads until we got there. I don't know how safe we really were. There was a lot of anti-American sentiment back then. But the people in the interior seemed to not really care.

The time I spent at the beach was very quiet time. There were no other people on the beach. Once in awhile one of the locals would come out of the jungle and dig around for clams and then melt back in to the jungle. I might do a little reading, or a little writing, or a little swimming. The rhythm of the ocean kept me mesmerized and gave me incredible stream-of-consciousness thought, so most of my time was spent following my thoughts where they led.

My feet at Foster's Beach, Panama, 1976

Whenever the tide would come in or go out, I'd rouse myself and start my walk along the beach to see what treasures the ocean would give me that day. There were so many beautiful shells on the beaches. I don't know how it is today, but in 1976 there were SO many. I remember one particular day I could see a really beautiful shell rolling in the surf, and I wanted it! I kept trying to catch the shell as it rolled in the foam, but the ocean would keep taking it back. I remember having thoughts about patience, and about the ocean testing me to see if I was willing to work for this gift, and about deserving such a beautiful treasure from the sea. I did eventually succeed in getting that shell, and it was as beautiful as it appeared to be while it was rolling in the surf.

One day I came home from the beach very excited about all the beautiful shells I had found that day and I went to my Mom to show her my treausres. She looked at them and then started telling me about a book she had read called "Gift From the Sea". I only sort of listened to her because, as much as I love books, I wanted her to look at my shells and be excited about THOSE.

Well, months later, after I had left beautiful Panama and was back in school-this time at BYU-I was browsing in the BYU bookstore (remember, I love books and this was jolly good entertainment to me!) and I came across a little paperback book called "Gift From the Sea" and I wondered if this was the book my Mom had told me about. As I looked through it I knew it was the book and it was calling to me. I remember standing there in the bookstore debating whether I could afford to spend $1.65 on this book with my student income (amazing, I know) and I decided to take the plunge and buy it. I haven't been the same person since.

My original book from 1977

This book was written by Anne Morrow Lindbergh in 1955 (The wife of Charles, the aviator. I say this because I've discovered some people don't know who they are). I love this book and have given it to many women through the years. I think it is a book every woman should read many times in her life. Last week our Relief Society started one of those mini-enrichment activities that we do now, and it was a book group. I offered to start this group and the book we read was "Gift From the Sea". We had the discussion here at my house and it was a really nice hour and a half that we spent together talking about life and being a woman. I was so happy that new women have now read this book.

These are some of my shells from Panama. I picked each of these up from the beach.

Imagine how I felt, the first time I read this book, when I read these lines: "One never knows what chance treasures these easy unconscious rollers may toss up, on the smooth white sand of the conscious mind; what perfectly rounded stone, what rare shell from the ocean floor....But it must not be sought for or-heaven forbid!-dug for. No, no dredging of the sea-bottom here. That would defeat one's purpose. The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. To dig for treasure shows not only impatience and greed, but lack of faith. Patience, patience, patience, is what the sea teaches. Patience and faith. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach-waiting for a gift from the sea."

I keep my beautiful shells on the shelf of my sofa table so that I can see them every day and I can remember....