During the summer of 1977, Mother, my younger two siblings and I traveled down to West Palm Beach, Florida to spend time with my Aunt Joyce and her daughters, Kim and Debbie.

We spent the first night in Knoxville, Tennessee, moving on to Plains, Georgia, the home of our then-current First Family, The Carters. We made it as far as Valdosta, Georgia that second day before pulling into Aunt Joyce’s driveway where Cousin Debbie was riding her bicycle and awaiting our arrival.

We spent several days at the nearby beach and one day we traveled to either Lake Worth or Lantana beach. It was a beautiful beach area that connected to a park where we had lunch. For some reason, my brain is recalling a zoo or some area with some animals. But, the best part was the causeway where we watched boats and barges.

Returned to the beach, we had a blast with Aunt Joyce and the cousins. With little warning, a mighty storm approached with terrifying clouds I’d only seen at the beach.

Mother and all us kids began packing up while Aunt Joyce was still shoulder deep in the ocean water.

Dena, only four years old, ran to the edge of the water and shouted, “Aunt Joyce, you’d better get out of the water or you’re going to get wet!”

Forty-four years later, I still get a belly laugh from that moment!