It's a GOODe Life: Footprints

Footprints...

It occurred to me this summer that often times when we look at footprints, we overlook them and we rarely know their story.

Take these sets for example.

Sloppy, average and insignificant to anyone that doesn't know their story.

Yet precious, painful and poignant to those that do.

These were the footprints of my recent vacation.

I can see the tracks from the ATV that sold us a very overpriced chair rental the first day.

I can see the trip back to the hotel to get my sunglasses.

I can see the excited pitter patter of an afternoon at our spot.

I can see the scramble and fright of a family caught in a sudden storm.

I can see where some of our footprints have been swept away with the wind.

I can see the evidence of a family at play.

I can see the long walk back, ready for home but uneasy about a season of change.

This might just be one of my favorite pictures from the entire trip.

It has such meaning for me.

It reminds me of our trip and of our lives.

Footprints, appearances, scars--both figurative and literal can only be truly known by those who are living them.

Many disregard the sight of a footprint as just a fleeting moment in the sand, while the sand lives its life informed--and sometimes even defined-- by the story behind the print.

Our friends are those who stop to take the time to leave footprints of their own as they seek to learn how the other prints got there.