A place in our hearts

Jan. 8, 2009,

Dear McMani,

We welcomed your Christmas letter and photograph like news from castaways, though we know you'll always be true Southern Californians. John and Karin haven't changed in the 14 years since we last saw you. Inga and Christien, of course, have transformed from little people into people old enough to drive. They are so beautiful, even in Santa caps. Who would have imagined they'd become star volleyball players, especially since their dad has no talent for ball sports? So Karin was the field athlete all along.

I love that John and Christien surf together, though Christien must have endured lots of grief from the other grommets about catching sets with the old man.

The surfers I knew in Southern California talked about the beauty of "soul surfing," forgetting all the tricks and moves children want to do and simply standing on your board and feeling the power in the force carrying you ashore. No doubt John and Christien have shared that feeling.

Sports that require balancing on a moving body of water never were my forte, but you have to surf in Southern California, just as you have to ice fish in upstate New York. That's one reason I live here now and not there. You don't have to do anything. Nothing is what some people think we golfers do.

DC and I have tracked your peripatetic life, the years in Puerto Vallarta and New Zealand, the adventures on your boat. Inga and Christien are richer and more enlightened for being exposed to so many different ways of life. Yours have been paths less taken by most families, but we always sensed you knew where you were, if not where you might go. "When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy," Rumi said. You personify that joy, soul surfers.

I wonder if Humboldt County was one of the more intriguing stations along your way -- the magnificence of the trees and sea and rivers, the outlaw attitude, the faded hippies and the do-it-yourself homesteaders. We have returned a few times and seen fewer and fewer familiar faces. Perhaps it's a place, a stage people pass through.

Sharing a year in Garberville with the McMani was a terrific way to begin marriage for DC and me. The homemade dinners and talent shows made us feel welcome.

As a newbie college instructor, I have a new appreciation for John's gift for teaching. I also have adopted Karin's quest to be fit.

Back then, DC and I lunched on tater tots with ranch dressing while Karin went to aerobics classes. Now I skip the tater tots and end up bathed in my own sweat almost every day.

The adventures DC and I under take are tamer than yours. Having been lost in Paris and lost in Oakland, I thank God for guides and a GPS. But always know that wherever you go, each member of the McManus clan has a home in our hearts.

Love, Sam

Sam Blackwell is a former reporter for the Southeast Missourian.