It was three years ago that I took a walk down the beach and met the man who is now my husband.

To honor the occasion it seemed a thank you was in order. So I wandered down to that same sandy place to offer up my gratitude for unexpected gifts. What I found the moment I got to the tide line was a classic specimen of the rare and beautiful Sunrise Shell.

A few earl-rising shell hounds were already there in the distance, combing the beach in search of their own Sunrise treasure. This one was right at my toes.

Sometimes when you’re not looking, the most beautiful things can just come right up upon you. Like precious sea gems in sunrise hues. Or the love of your life, bare-chested and smiling.

And sometimes sage reminders can be delivered a’la tea bags. Like the pith directive that steeped and steamed when I got back home, basking in my morning’s beach discovery and reflecting on the love that had come my way.

I’m so prone to ‘do.’ But life’s bestowed some of its most precious riches when I simply ‘let.’