A Souvenir to Savor

By Amy Coward

 

Being a native Florida girl, I love any excuse to go “home”. I have family there I love to visit and, of course, the beach calls my name every summer. From the moment I cross the Florida State line, I start to relax. It seems like it’s always sunny (thus the nickname, the Sunshine State) and I’m convinced the hot, muggy air has medicinal value.

My most recent trip was for my annual mother-daughter weekend. My mom, sister and I met at Fernandina Beach near Amelia Island to eat, shop and talk. Then eat, shop and talk some more. In a word – the perfect weekend.

On the way, I stopped at the exit off I-95 to Fernandina at a combination gas station and souvenir shop like so many along the interstate. This one was true Florida style selling citrus fruit, local honey and Florida souvenirs.

I’m always amazed at the offerings. You have your choice of seashells – in baskets, in wind chimes, in jewelry – Disney t-shirts, alligator heads and pirate skulls (the latter two the perfect decor for your coffee table). I can just imagine all the kids going wild in this store begging for one treasure or another.

There are Florida treats too – key lime coconut candies, salt water taffy and jellies made from local fruits. My favorite is guava jelly and as far as I can tell, you can only buy it in Florida so I grabbed a jar.( It’s fabulous on an English muffin beneath some once-over-easy eggs. Yum…)

I resisted the other souvenir temptations and had no children in tow so I breezed on to the bed-and-breakfast where we were staying for the weekend. While waiting to check in, I sat in a rocker on the porch overlooking the ocean and smelled the salty air. Ahh…peace on earth.

Once my sister and mother arrived, we continued on with our weekend – sharing stories of the past and catching up on our daily lives. Sometimes I’m sure we’re sharing the same stories over and over, but it doesn’t matter. It’s our connection. And we relish every minute.

The weekend flew by all too fast and we hugged and hung on to each other knowing it could be months before we sat across a table and talked again. I realized then that my souvenir from the weekend did not come from any shop. And believe me, there were plenty of shops.

It was the lasting feeling of that final hug that I will think about and treasure.

I’ll savor that… and my guava jelly.

 

Amy Coward is a public relations professional in Columbia, SC. When she is not managing the madness of event planning at Palmetto Health Foundation, she is turning her empty nest upside down looking for fun and finding it. 

 

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