Marina was flying in from Hawaii. Driving LA to SD on a friday night at 4pm. (For those of you who are local, let me give you a hug after you shiver with dread.) We wanted to hook up somewhere in between to get them out of traffic and to finally meet after three or four tries and misses.
Note: the sun is setting currently right around 7:30pm.
I got the call that they were in Long Beach at 6pm. If I sped down the carpool lane, I could possibly make it to Huntington by 6:30ish, giving us an hour to play in the sunset.
I throw my children and my camera in the car and hightail it to Huntington Beach.
As we are getting on the freeway, Drew realizes he forgot his sweatshirt and asks me to turn around. I say no way jose – you had ten minutes to get your stuff together for the beach – it is your problem if you forgot, I am not turning back now. He crosses his arms and glares.
While driving, I realize I am almost out of gas. (Crap!) Stopping to fill up will make me lose fifteen minutes at the beach, but I have no choice.
I pull off the freeway in Irvine and find a gas station.
I pull into the gas station and reach into the back seat for my purse.
It is not there.
I search the car.
It is not in the car.
I threw my children and my camera in the car, but forgot my purse.
It is 6:20 ish.
I am on empty, (really really empty), twenty minutes from my house, twenty minutes from Huntington. On a Friday night. In traffic. Smack dab in the middle of I don’t know what to do right now – somebody please help me!
Kids start crying and everyone wants to pipe in with an idea when they figure out what is happening. In stereo.
I scrounge for change, but Mckenna had been there first, and all I come up with is $1.26. (I remember the time Jeff told me I should keep a $20 in my car, for all the times I forget my wallet.)
I text Marina, give her the news.
I call Jeff, who is at home watching a very important basketball game, and give him the news while flinching. This is not the first time that I have called him after doing some scatterbrained ridiculous thing, and it certainly won’t be the last. He is purely professional on this night, so all he says after my predicament tumbles out of my mouth is, “I am on my way.”
I fall in love with him all over again. That sounds dramatic, but it was a dramatic kind of night.
I calm down the kids and turn up the music. I try to make this stressful situation not as stressful. The car bounces as we all dance and wait.
Nathan and Drew get out of control. Anna meows like a kitten.
The clock ticks.
Jeff arrives at 6:50.
He passes my purse to me out the window of his car. I give him a knowing look – I owe you buddy, I will make this up to you buddy, thank you for not lecturing me buddy. I put in five gallons and drive like the wind.
I arrive at the beach a little after 7pm, where Marina and her family are waiting. If we are lucky, we have 45 minutes before utter darkness.
It is already freezing, but we trudge down to the water.
The kids mesh right away – Marina and I mesh right away.
We have 45 minutes together and trudge back to the parking lot when it is dark.
We say goodbye, but I didn’t want to.
My kids and I pile back into my car, and this is when I realize my sunglasses are no longer hanging on my tshirt. My prescription sunglasses, the ones which cost me $250 in order to shove my prescription into the lenses.
That I need.
Desperately.
Every day.
My eyes are SUPER sensitive to light.
I die a little bit inside – the beach is dark. We were standing in the shorebreak, so there is NO WAY they are still on the beach. I just lost $250.
I tell the kids – they all start looking in the car for me.
Drew looks at me and smiles. He is remembering the sweatshirt that I denied him. He says, “Karma, mom. Karma.”
His sarcasm endears me to him. It diffuses the worry and we all laugh. I ask them if they are up for going back and searching the beach, just in case.
They are all eager to help – in fact – I think they are each hoping to be the one to find the lost glasses.
We turn around and head back onto the beach. It is freezing, dark, and windy. I give up my cardigan to Drew, who is shivering.
I have no hope at all, but I have to try. That sounds dramatic, but again: It was a dramatic kind of night.
I walk a direct straight line following the path I already walked – the kids are fanning out all around me, trying their best.
I stay on my straight path – all the way as we walk by the pier. And as I get closer to the water, I see a dark spot directly in front of me. Could it be? Probably seaweed. My heart beats faster as hope comes back. No, it couldn’t be. How could the glasses be on the exact path I am on? What are the chances? But they were. I walked straight up to them. They were halfway into the sand, stuck, and sticking up in the water. I grabbed them and yelled out to the kids. I still can’t believe I found them.
And I look at Drew and say, “This is Karma my friend. THIS. Is Karma.”
And that was how I met Marina.
And I would do it all over again.
xo
Tara
PS : For Marina’s take on our meet up, go here. You will see a photo of the sunglasses that made me SMILE.
Nice! I love Marina. It makes perfect sense that the two of you would meet and feel like old friends.
Take that Drew. :)
Tears and laughter my friend :) that is so awesome. It sounds like my life with Bob, but the basketball game would be Mythbusters.
it was just as crazy if not more. add your story and our 5 hour flight, google mapping, pee breaks, and naked IN-N-OUT stop and you have just a smidgen of everyday life.
Thank you for being a friend. :)
Reading this… I can just feel the drama!!! Wow…You trully are such a nice person. Awesome :)
So glad I’m not the only one that has days like these! How perfectly imperfect life can be, it’s just the way it is.
that is an awesome story! how wonderful when a series of unfortunate events can turn into a happy ending – love it! thanks for sharing :)
oh man!!! we all have days like this, it seems. nothing goes as planned, and one crappy domino knocks down the next. ugh.
next time you are in irvine and find yourself without a purse and cash, log onto facebook, get my cell number, text me, and i will come bail you out!! :D
Fabulous! Love this story, love these shots! Thank you for sharing yet more laughs and art with us Mrs. Whitney! Have a great weekend!! :)
Great, great story, T. Love.
Love your stories. LOVE them. ;)
karma, indeed. kiss that kid, will ya?
i feel like i just read the story of my own day to day life.
it is nice to read that someone else has the same scatterbrained tendencies as i do.
tara – you are one amazing writer (and photographer – of course).
thank you for sharing. :)
I love stories like this as much as I do your amazing photographs. As a mom of four kids about the same ages as yours, one of whom is a bit different, I relish hearing a story about the kinds of everyday things that also happen to us, but told in a way that honors it and makes it almost magical. That’s what you do with your photos, too.
you are such a brilliant writer.
i loved reading this.
amazing story and an amazing opportunity to meet a friend.
have a lovely weekend!
awww I love this!! what a great ending! i was so totally engrossed in your story…felt the agony with ya! ;)
great story and great pix!
tara
you are good.
good mommy…good photographer…good wife.
i love the play by play.
mommies with numerous kids can relate.
i feel like i am always forgetting something…there is just TO MUCH to remember with so many people to think of.
have a fabulous weekend tara!
marina is worth the trip. :) great shots. so can relate to this story. I think most moms have these nutty days on a daily basis when you have 4 kids huh? love your karma story tara!
From one drama queen to another…this story made me tear up. I SO understand every feeling you felt. Love the pix and the play by play.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!!! :0))))
Tara…
That sounds JUST like a day of mine…or an evening.
And yesterday, as my husband comes storming in after picking up my daughter at school…to scold me about having to leave the carpool line because I have NO gas in my car…you just put a notch in his belt of “I’m right”.
I had to admit I never remember to put gas in my car and nine times out of 10 he ends up filling it up when he drives it. He read the paragraph about your husband coming to save you and said, “So, you gonna own up to it now?”
“Yup. And. Thank you honey.”
: )
oh my, is this Marina from Red Heart? I have a dream of going to Hawaii and having her do a shoot with me and my hubby floating on one of those surf boards and her doing an underwater shot. How very cool that you two met. You two are photo soul sisters. :)
two of my favorite photogs ever. :)
Your skills as a writer are just as amazing as your skills behind the camera. Loved this post Tara. So much real life in a few paragraphs. Thanks for sharing!
thanks for sharing your cool life!
Great story, or should I say Reality!!! My heart was bleeding for you, I too, have lost my prescriptions sunglasses. . . . and, it didn’t turn out the way it did for you! Yay, Tara!!!
THAT is a fantastic story. I have to admit, I was on the edge of my seat at all times :)
You don’t know me – I feel like I know you since I stalk your blog – and this may sound weird, but I had tears in my eyes as I finished reading your entry. Amazing. The way you can turn your kids into dance machines!! Good for yoU!
you are the best storyteller…
and i TOTALLY love these photos of my family. Thank you!!!!
ugh, just reading that fills me with anxiety! glad it ended up a memorable and worth-it evening.
welcome to my life. :)
don’t cha just love chunks tongue? love that fam. glad you finally got to meet marina. she rocks.
Oh my, I love the way you put your day into words, it was very moving to read about all this, best than a final episode of a famous tv show ;) thanks for sharing.
Wow, what a night! Glad it all worked out.
What a delightful story!!!
great post……just a fabulous narrative. as gifted a writer as a photographer
What a great story! Seriously sounds like something that would be in a movie. Glad you made it there and found your glasses too! Karma baby. (your son is awesome!)
What a great post! I literally cried after reading ‘on my way’ and then laughed sooo hard after ‘karma mom karma’!!! Sounds just like something that would happen to my family! Except I would not have found my glasses… Lol!!
oh my goodness what a day… but lucky you.. 1. you got to meet an amazing woman and her family, 2. you found your glasses and pointed out the true meaning of karma.. :)
Yep, terrific storyteller & photographer! I too had tears at the end – identifying with you and your rush, the time of day you had to rush, the kids, gas, everything! Especially loosing the expensive glasses you NEED! I’m getting a panic attack just thinking of everything again… Such real life!! The photo of the baby caught me grinning, then tears at the happy ending… Thanks for sharing all of your life!!
all that DRAMA=worth it for the shot of baby sticking tongue out alone. amazing.
That post was just a delight. It made me smile, laugh, and fall in love my loved ones all over again, too. Thank you for making my night.
What a story! So glad you found your sunglasses, clever (secure) spot to store you iPhone…I usually tuck my into my camera bag or phone pouch on my black rapid camera strap during a shoot…’cause otherwise I just know I could lose it!
Marina’s work is fabulous! Will be following her blog in the future.
omg- i was on the edge of my seat reading this.
love how you make miracles.
Tara, it’s never a dull moment with you around!!!
Love this story and glad all went without a hitch…finally. ha.
you should write a book….i would read it…. :)
I check your blog daily…maybe more :) I live in NC but my husband and I were in CA this past week and Friday when we were out on a date – in Long Beach(!), I told him the only thing that would have made the trip better would have been running into you during a shoot! We debated which beach to go to to watch the sunset. Should have chosen Huntington…karma slipped right past me!
This story makes me happy.. and fills me with anxiety. ;)