August 7 & 8 - Rice family members from Arizona, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia gathered at Surfside Beach, South Carolina. There were hugs and laughter, little one's giggles and shyness, lots of talking, noise and general chaos, excitement at being at the ocean, playing in the waves, on the sand, and in the pool, plus several trips to the grocery store. Saturday was stormy and rainy, but was the only day that way.
We had a wonderful beachfront house. Family members from Amy's Mom's and Dad's side were mainly on one side and Rices on the other. Amy's side of the family has gathered at Surfside Beach for years and I had joined Keegan's family and Amy's parents last year. We had such a great time. Amy's Mom started planning early for a beach trip this summer to include more family and had found this large double house. After Mike passed away, I asked the rest of the Rice family if it would be possible to coordinate the release of his ashes with the week that we already had planned at the beach. Praise God, they were able to find a house one block away from us and everyone was able to come!
Sunday night I had a special time with Caleb & Anastasia and Keegan & Amy. I shared what I had planned for the release of ashes service, plus gave them photos from when the boys were young, some with their Dad and some not. I also shared some of the blessings God had provided to me after Mike's death. We talked and shared and cried which was a true blessing and a precious time that I treasure.
Monday, August 9 started with a beautiful sunrise and the promise of a great day to be out on the ocean. Amy's Uncle Dan goes deep sea fishing and provided seasickness-preventing pills, which had never crossed my mind and we were very thankful for! No matter how calm a day, the ocean is still moving. 😊 Amy's cousins, Chris & Narcisse, offered their vehicle so that we wouldn't have to shuttle people the 15 minutes to and fro which was another huge blessing to us! There were 19 of us going on the boat, 4 needed car seats, and most had flown to SC, so we only had Keegan's vehicle and my car. Having the use of their vehicle that morning that already had a car seat was a real time-saver especially since we needed to be there by 7:30 AM.
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In front of Express Watersports before going out.
All my kids and grands. I'm so blessed. |
We rented a boat through Express Watersports in Murrell's Inlet. They were wonderful to work with and I could tell they have trained their staff well for this more sensitive service that they provide. I mean it is quite different from the majority of their business which is renting jet skis, scuba-diving, kayaking, etc. They took care of the permits needed and knew the laws regarding the release of ashes. They also suggested a florist if we wanted to have flowers to throw, which was beautiful, and a caterer if we wanted to do a big breakfast afterwards. We opted to bring our own simple foods on the boat figuring that the children (and adults) would be hungry soon. Callas Florist was also wonderful. They suggested the wreath to put the ashes in and I'm so glad. Ashes are heavy and they would have sunk as soon as they were put in the ocean. This way they floated off which was so calm and peaceful.
JJ, our First Mate, asked me if there was a particular reason why we came to that spot and I told him no, Mike loved any ocean and beach, plus I briefly told him that Mike and I met in Palau surrounded by the Pacific Ocean. He replied: "Well all the oceans connect, so his ashes could go all around the world." I love that thought! Later that week while bobbing up and down in the ocean with family, it was a distinctly pleasant thought to realize that part of Mike was right out there now, part of the ocean he dearly loved. 💕 After our 2 hour boat ride, I was given a certificate with the coordinates of where we released his ashes should we want to visit the site in the future. I told the boys, maybe my ashes could be released at the same spot when the time came, who knows?
We had a time of sharing before releasing the wreath with the ashes and the best way to share that with you is with photos and videos of our time on the ocean. JJ did a great job of videoing for me. A couple of the videos go from vertical to horizontal which then ends up being sideways, but I don't know how to fix that. The last video of the release of ashes is a bit chaotic as my phone was passed from person to person, but it's still meaningful to me and I was able to export still shots from it which come at the end of the album. Follow the link below to watch the videos of the service:
The rest of the week was a wonderful time with family. We played in the waves, the pool, played games after the littles were in bed, ate well, and made many blessed memories. It was hard to see family leave at the end of the week, but God had provided such a precious time with gorgeous weather and I couldn't have been more pleased with how everything worked out. Below are some photos from our week with a bit of commentary.
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The Rice/Cipriano Guys
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All my beautiful grands. My cup runneth over! It wasn't until Wednesday that my littlest, Aurelia, (who had only seen me through a phone or computer screen) would let me play with her and hold her. Then we became buddies and I tearfully let her go Friday when they had to leave. The children played well together for the most part and we had a blast! So much joy having them all together!
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Joy, such a cutie with
so much determination!
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Aria, Seraphina & Riley played so well together.
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Watson is so good
with numbers.
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Love that face!!
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Finally buddies. 💕
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Watson and I found a starfish.
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Family photos with G'ma:
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| So glad Mom Rice came. |
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Princess story time with the girls.
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| Settlers of Catan Jr. |
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| Amy and Watson playing a card game. |
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The ocean wore Joy out.
Her hand is still in the bag
of Cheetos! |
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These magnetic blocks
provided lots of entertainment. |
Mike would have loved being with all of his family at the ocean, but I believe we remembered him well and enjoyed the time we had with all of our loved ones even while there was an obvious hole. I sure was blessed with all of the memories of Mike that were shared and all of the new memories made.
When I came home, the wild flowers planted in his memory were in bloom. The little heart I took off of the box of ashes and planted greeted me with sunny yellow cosmos swaying gently in the breeze. There is one more thing I will share with you once his gravestone is installed, which will finalize all of the memorial events for Mike; however, he will forever live in our hearts and in the lives he impacted while on this earth.
Philippians 1:21
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
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