Dolphins

 It's our last official day in Orlando and Marshall and I are spending it at SeaWorld, but first we took a detour by to meet our friend Dino's son Dylan. I had mixed emotions about meeting Dylan - I wanted to since we were in Florida but didn't we come to Florida to escape the fact that we just lost our son? Marshall and I both struggled yesterday with this since Dino arrived in Florida and started texting us to come get together with him and meet his son. I knew once we met him we would be glad that we did, but on the other hand I felt like the trip was all of a sudden becoming about us meeting Dylan and not about us grieving the loss of our own son. After a long day at Disney yesterday and a quiet dinner at our hotel restaurant, Marshall and I both came to terms with the fact that we were going to meet Dylan today.

 And so this morning we ventured over to Mindy's house where Dino was staying and meet his five month old son Dylan. I held him and played with him but saw that Marshall had no interest in holding him. Nolan was the first baby Marshall had ever held and he was petrified to hold him up until the day he came out and then all that fear went away. Perhaps he is waiting until we have another child before he will ever hold someone else's.

 After the brief visit with Dino and Dylan, Marshall and I went to SeaWorld. Neither of us had been there since we were children, but there is something about the ocean and the creatures in it that has always been calming to me. While on the boat or out surfing, we are always mesmerized when we see dolphin or a sea turtle. So of course my first stop at SeaWorld was the Dolphin Cove and we just happened to make it in time for the Dolphin show. Oh what a treat! It truly was the first time I really felt bliss since Nolan's death. Watching these miraculous animals as they jumped and played and interacted with their trainers took my breath away. Some say that dolphins are a

 message of wellbeing to the pure at heart. I for one believe they are. There is something indescribable about them. Just by watching them I am immediately put at ease and a wave of serenity rushes over me. Maybe they are my power animal or maybe they are one of those creatures put here on earth to show us God's love for us. It is obvious to me that dolphins' capacity for knowledge is much greater than our own. Marshall even noted how the dolphins seem to get enjoyment out of the trivial things their trainers had them do, as if they were mocking us at thinking their limits of understanding us were to splash us and jump on command.