Healing

Margaret G. Chesterfield, Va.

I would like to tell you about the two experiences I had visiting Hilton Head. The first time I stayed South Forest Beach. The second was I believe Palmetto Dunes.
Both years was a year of healing..I had lost my spouse and was in a need for a healing...the beach was always a spot that we both loved...As young adults we always went to the beach and continued to make the beach a place of rest and relaxation as our family grew. The beach was always a place of reconnection and blessing for us as a couple. So it wasn't uncommon that I would run to the beach when I needed to find that place of rest for my soul and mind.
But why Hilton Head. There was a double meaning for me. I always wanted to visit Hilton Head with my husband. But he would never agree..sometimes he was stubborn. laughing. Hilton Head would have been a seven hour drive for us and he just wouldn't agree to it when we had beaches to visit 3 to 4 hours away that were wonderful as well. So when I decided to visit Hilton Head it was also because it gave me a sense of freedom and growth that I could go ..and the drive wasn't an issue. But even traveling the seven hours once I arrived in Hilton Head I soon found out that it was different from the other beaches we had visited. And, you know if he had agreed and as a couple we had gone..he would have loved it. And we would have made Hilton Head our new destination of choice, of this I am sure.
None the less I arrived with my grandson and we enjoyed all the things you do at the beach. The weather was perfect. The water was lovely. We both loved riding our bikes everyday on the beach and around the neighborhood. I especially loved my morning coffee at Joe's coffee. We ate at the oyster factory which was such a treat. The views and food were both wonderful and now that I'm thinking about it I can't wait to return.
We also made a visit to watch the dolphins. My grandson loved that little outing. Especially when he got the opportorunity to drive the boat. HIs mother espeically loved it when we brought home his hermit crab that we purchased at one of our shopping days.

But mostly it was a time to reconnect and spend time doing fun things that created memories for us that we will cherish forever. We both had a chance to heal and see that life is good. I'm convinced that there must be a beach in heaven..or at least I hope there is. I'm always awe struck at it's power, strength, beauty,and grace that it knows just how far to come up to the beach and stop. Awesome.

I know I will return to the beaches of hilton head. I look forward to that vacation with the rest of my family.

Starting over Just the 4 of us

Melissa S. Stephenscity, VA

This year has been a tough one for my 3 kids and I. My husband has left the family, and we are starting a new. I'm already searching for the perfect family vacation to take them on. We use to visit Hilton Head Island every summer until last year. We would visit Shannon Tanner and Bailey my 7 year old would beg to sing up on stage with him. Stay all day on the beach and watch them have endless fun and laughter.

Hilton Head we love you!

We hope to come and visit soon and start new Memories!!

A Place of Healing

Kathy G. Cincinnati, Ohio

Hilton Head is a place of healing for my sisters and I. We have been coming to Hilton Head for several years now each fall. There were six of us. Now there are four. We have lost two sisters since we began our annual visits to Hilton Head eight years ago. We use the time to bond, to have fun and lose our problems for just a few days. There is something very healing about the ocean.

One of my sisters just died in December 2010 only a few weeks after being in Hilton Head. Unexpectedly and needlessly. My other sister passed away five years ago again only a month after she was in Hilton Head. My sister who died in December worked three jobs to make ends meet. She never got a rest and Hilton Head was her get away. We actually did a zip line at her request on our last vacation not knowing it would be her last trip. My older sister who passed in 2006 had gone to Hilton Head knowing that she was very ill and it would probably be her last trip. She found the ocean there to be the place that she would chose to speak to God and prepare herself for death.

The four remaining sisters have all decided that we will return to Hilton Head this year. Don't know when but we know that it is a place that somehow allows all of us to be ourselves. To step out of our everyday routines and to share ourselves with each other.

This year we want to pay tribute at the beach to our sisters who have passed away. We know this is how we can begin the healing process for ourselves because we don't know if it will be our last trip. Hilton Head is the place that we know we can do this.