The body is fully relaxed, the softness around my midriff a resounding evidence of it, that tick tock of age. I am at the happy place, where sun shines and rain falls and sometimes it’s so chilly, and always I don’t mind. So much is behind me, worries-wise. Officially a college graduate. An accomplishment at any age, but here, so far into my life, a reckoning, a must, as I advance to graduate school in the Fall. One step at a time. One a Thursday, I wore a blue square cap and the next day, a Friday, I accepted the change I have been striving for for five years, and happily out my bucket hat on, shielding my eyes from sun, worry dissipating. The world has opened up and I am still cautious about my movements, but delirious when in a hug; there are so many people I have yet to embrace and soon, when I leave here in ten days, I’ll be doing more of that. Getting accustomed to walking freely, seeing the faces of strangers, relishing in the crevasses and the vastness of their terrain. Right now, I ride on bikes and I walk along the shore, chasing my steps, and I listen to podcasts and the laughter of people soaking up the sun warms me. The beach heals. The beach heals.