Perfect Moment Monday: Lost and... Found!

Perfect Moment Monday is sponsored by Weebles Wobblog and is described as "...noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Perfect moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between." I think it's a great way to make us all more mindful of the good things that happen to us. There's always at least one perfect moment...!

I stand at the edge of the Atlantic. Most of the guys have run in already and are neck-deep. I hang back with a few of the girls and a couple of the men who haven't ventured in yet.

"Um, not happening. Mid-calf is deep enough for me. This water is freezing," I say matter-of-factly. "Hell no."

I step in for a few seconds, step out, n do this dance for several minutes.

"I'm gonna go put my sunglasses in my bag," Rathi says, and walks away. I think about calling out to her to take mine, too. I even think about following her. Then I figure, I'm not going in, so why bother?

The water is a murky brown at best, nothing like the clear, beautiful, postcard-perfect waters of St Thomas that I am now used to. The waves are gigantic and, I would soon learn, the strongest I have ever been in. The temperature outside the water is a million; inside the water, negative 1 million.

Rathi is gone for a few minutes, tops. In those few minutes, I get ballsy and decided to wade in a little further. Before I know it, I've really grown a pair and I'm thigh-deep. The water is so cold it feels like a thousand razor-sharp shards of glass coming at me from all directions at once and stabbing my body mercilessly. I think about turning around and taking the sunglasses perched on top of my head to safety. They are my expensive, and currently, only pair. I decide against it, since I'm still convinced that I'm not really gonna go in.

Next thing I know, I am a little deeper in. I see a massive wave coming at me, I turn my back to it to protect myself, not realizing yet that there is no way I can stand up to its sheer power.

Literally.

I am knocked off my feet before I even have a chance to react. I am shoved forward, put in a horizontal position very quickly. The wave takes hold of my bikini top and bottom, and pulls in different directions. I think about reaching up to secure my glasses but am more concerned with the fact that I can't breathe bc I'm still immersed in the water, so I make a split second decision to abandon the glasses, and choose life over a possession.

I'm sure this whole episode lasted a mere few seconds, but at the moment, it truly felt like time was stretching. But accompanied by an awful sense of urgency since I... y'know, couldn't breathe.

I emerge alive and the first thing I do is look around the brown water for my glasses. Fat chance. Then I realize the whole beach is being treated to a free peep show and I quickly adjust my suit. I'm upset but at that point, I figure I might as well just stay in the water for a while and play in the waves. I'm already soaking wet and freezing. I try to act like it's all good, but in my head I am non-stop berating myself.

"I really should have known better. Those were my expensive sunglasses. This is exactly the reason I should never buy expensive things. This is exactly the reason why I don't buy expensive things. I've only had them for a couple of months, too. Took me forever to find a pair I liked, they were perfect! They're just material things at the end of the day, they shouldn't matter... But they're my material things, dammit. Sigh. I guess I can go buy another pair. I'm not working, dude, there's just no way I can justify spending $145 plus tax on a pair of sunglasses right now, that's just ridiculous. At least I bought them on St Thomas where there was no tax. Crap."

And so it went.... A couple of us still scanned the water, hopeful. For a second, I thought I felt them with my foot, but then common sense kicked in; I put my hand out in front of me and, inches later, it disappeared. I might as well just suck it up.

Twenty minutes of crashing ocean later, we are all ready to get out, and Rathi says she is going to jump back in for a rinse. I wait on the sand, wondering what's taking so long, staring in the other direction.

"Ziggy, look what I found!"

I turn to my left and if this was a movie, I swear there would be a halo of light and angels singing. Rathi emerges from the big, bad Atlantic, one arm raised in victory, her hand clutching my rescued designer sunglasses, her smile as wide as the one that slowly crept onto my face as the realization hit me.

"No frickin' way! Oh, my God, no way!!"

I hugged her and thanked her. I'm pretty sure I even jumped up n down a couple of times. I checked for damage and saw none. I put them on and besides being a little loose, they were honestly no worse for wear. Unbelievable.

*

I know this is not a huge deal in the large scheme of things. However, at that moment, it was what I called "a small miracle that feels like a big miracle". I instantly knew it was a Perfect Moment.