I did not think that we would be able to afford a rental beach house that year. You see, it had been a difficult year for us. I had had major surgery that was unexpected. I have had appendicitis with complications, and it had cost thousands of dollars. Renting beach houses has been a yearly family tradition for some time, but it looked like we would have to skip it this year.
When I told my family, they were disappointed but resigned. Everyone was resigned to not having a rental beach house, that is, but my youngest daughter. She loved rental beach houses, having a passion for swimming from the time she was two years old. She suggested that we rent a vacation house with some family friends, and I thought the idea was a stroke of brilliance. I had never even considered it before. After all, we always went east and they always went west. We always had very different tastes in vacation destinations, but nonetheless both of us always ended up on the beach. Without further ado, I called them up and asked if they were interested in rental beach houses.
When they told me that they were, I cannot tell you how excited I was. It seemed like vacation was saved! I had wanted to go to a rental beach house, because it had been a stressful year. Without a little bit of time to relax on the beach, unwinding as the waves rushed in and out, I knew I would go back to work uptight and be less productive. The week at a rental beach house was such a long-standing tradition that it seemed like a shame to miss it. I knew that my family would get over it, but when I found out that we could actually go to a rental beach house, I was overjoyed.
Because there were two families this time, the rental because that we got was actually nicer than the ones that we usually got. It was gorgeous. It was actually three stories high, with a small attic room at the top. Both of us have large families, so we needed a significantly larger rental beach house than normal. We were lucky to get a good rate on it, and it was fun to spend the time in the company of close friends. I think we might start a new family tradition: going on vacation with friends.