The Desires of My Heart – A Birthday Story

There’s a little park we go to often on weekends. ?

It’s hidden in a residential neighborhood in Laguna Beach and overlooks one of our favorite beaches, Crescent Bay. ⛱

We’ve been going to Crescent Bay for years. In fact, when I was homeschooling Lucy & Jon, we were there at least once a week. 

It was always so great. ? If the waves were up, the boogie boards came out. ? And if the tide was low, we’d climb around on the rocks and and explore the tide pool life. ?

Then, 4 years ago, I got cancer ?? and was having daily radiation treatments which zapped ALL of my energy. ☠️ 

So Eric would take me for a drive up to Crescent Bay Park in Laguna, which sits on top of the bluff that overlooks- you guessed it – Crescent Bay. ☀️??

We’d park and slowly walk to the end of the bluff where there were never many people. It was such a well kept secret. ?  

Sometimes we’d see a few picnickers waiting for the sunset. ?. And sometimes we were lucky enough to witness a marriage proposal. ? The park was just secluded enough and made for magical moments.✨ We would usually take a selfie and go home. It was always the perfect outing and served me well for my recovery.

It was during one of these times that I got it in my head that I would one day bring the whole family up  there and set up a picnic with a beautiful, generously laden table ? – oh, and we would bust out the kids’ teepee, too.⛺️?

In my fairytale, the kids would run around while we enjoyed a lovely lunch on an exquisite So Cal day and it would be perfectly magical.✨ (Can you picture how absolutely sublime that would be?) ??

We continued our Sunday drives to Crescent Bay through the pandemic, ? and it was the first place we drove to when I got out of the hospital in March of last year. ☀️?

I swore one day I would make my magical picnic happen. ???

Fast forward to this past weekend. – which just happened to be my birthday. ?

I get my very curly hair washed and set at a fabulous salon that specializes in curls ? and it just so happens to be in Laguna.  Curls on Top is my fave place ever. ? They love me AND my curls. (The feeling is completely mutual). I’m not yet driving, so I asked Jon to please be my escort.

He agreed and even offered to drive me to my special park after he picked me up. It was my birthday, after all, and we hadn’t made any plans. ??

So, with my freshly washed curls, Jon drives me over to my special spot and we get out of the car at Crescent Bay Park and find – to my everlasting delight- that *someone* had set up a picnic that afternoon. ?❤️

I immediately began to gush and give commands about how *we* would do our picnic. It would look just like that! They even had a teepee! ⛺️

And that’s the moment when I saw my family. Asher and Sebastian ran straight for us and I was still reeling from the shock. They walked right into my fairytale and my heart cracked open in a million places. ❤️‍?OH! ?

This was MY PICNIC. ? MY FAIRYTALE. ✨ MY MIRACLE. ?

There were tears ? and delicious foods ??? and our good friend and photographer Dan Shalaby was there to capture all of it. ✨⭐️

And the kids ran around while the rest of us enjoyed lunch on an exquisite So Cal day and it was indeed perfectly magical.✨ 

Big praise to the lovely The Fairy Tale Picnic Company who pulled together my absolute dream picnic. 

? Super kudos to my kids for knowing EXACTLY how to bless mom on her birthday. ? (And adding Porto’s sandwiches to the mix.)

My lovely daughter-in-law, Alysha made a playlist of 70’s R&B which was literally the soundtrack of my life. Brilliant. 

I was completely surprised and we all had such a wonderful time. For me, it was seriously a bucket list item. I often say I lead a charmed life.

This day was just more proof of that. Also, I finally got a lovely family portrait that included my beautiful Max. 

My family means everything to me. Right below my faith in God and a really great arroz con pollo. (Shut up. I know.)

The Book says: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”❤️  ~Psalm 37:4

The desires of my heart indeed. I am living proof that the promises of God are true. ??❤️

I’m 67 and living my best life. Happy Birthday to me. ???

#belikemarta ???

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