Crystal Beach is Gone

So much for my family's Thanksgiving tradition. Hurricane Ike took care of that.

The house we usually stayed in was right on the water. It's not there anymore.

My family, mostly scattered across Texas, has been getting together nearly every Thanksgiving to celebrate the holiday in a rented beach house in Crystal Beach, Texas. We started that tradition the year after my father died. My mother had always hosted turkey-day at their house, and my siblings and I decided, that first year, that Thanksgiving at the beach would make the holiday much easier for her. It did - and we continued the tradition for another 15 years or so.

Long walks, bonfires on the beach, bocci ball, nieces and nephews laughing and playing, penny poker games at night, investigating tide pools, reading for hours on the porch, always to the soundtrack of crashing waves. November on the Gulf Coast can be iffy - some years it was warm enough to swim; other years demanded mittens, coat, and a wool hat. It was never crowded (though why Texas lets people drive their CARS on the beach is beyond me.)

Some of my happiest memories...

My mother died a few years ago. We had a couple beach Thanksgivings after that, but it wasn't the same. She'd been the center of our little family - and her absence was palpable. So last year, we skipped the beach and had our celebration at my sister's house in Dallas.

This year, we'd decided to try it again - mostly at the insistence of my three nieces, all in their early 20's now, who really missed the traditional family time at the beach. My mom's been gone for four years now, and we figured enough time had passed and it would be okay.

Guess not. It's all just gone.

Crystal Beach wasn't classy - a lot of crappy beach shops selling shells and fish nets, a couple pizza joints, a water slide, you know the drill. The attraction was the water...which was also its undoing.

I'm stunned by the devastation and know that my wistfulness for times past is nothing compared to what the residents of the Texas Gulf Coast are dealing with. MSM attention has gone to the next big thing - but those folks are still in the thick of it.