#8 - Cancun

The first trip that Mark and I ever took together was to Cancun. It was awesome. We tried Dos XX beer for the first time, walked along the beach, haggled over jewelry, snorkeled (despite both of our fears of the ocean), drank margaritas... you know, all the wonderful stuff that makes Mexico Mexico. We loved going out onto the beach at night and walking through the sand, listening to the waves. It seemed like every time we were out there in the dark this huge egret bird would be there to keep us company. It was so beautiful. It would stand so quietly in the water you would hardly be able to tell it was there until it would take off with these huge sweeping wings that must have stretched 6 feet across. I remember the peace I felt from standing on the edge of the ocean and being in the egret's presence. Our very last night, we went out onto the beach to walk through the sand, listen to the waves. Mark proposed to me that night with all the beauty of the beach around us. We continued to walk, marveling at the life ahead of us and as we walked, we saw the egret in the distance.

A few years later Mark and I took another trip to Cancun. We didn't have a long trip planned but we got in as much "Mexico" fun as we could. I distinctly remember that we went to the pyramids at Chichen Itza and literally could barely walk the next day from climbing the thousands (and thousands) of steps leading to the top. When we were at the pyramid, we got a Mayan souvenir with our anniversary date written in Mayan script and cuneiform. We still have the art framed and it hangs, along with many other pictures and souvenirs, as one of our precious belongings. Before we left to come home we were walking down the beach in the dark, listening to the waves. We finally stopped at some beach chairs facing out to the ocean. As we sat down, we realized that we had not seen the egret during our stay. We talked about him a bit and then lapsed into silence. Moments later, down he swooped to perch in the water about 20 feet out. He didn't stay long... but his few minutes there always felt like a blessing to us. It was like he came to wish us well.