My Essay about Dad from Coastal Living Magazine

I finally got around to scanning it. Some of my friends and my cousin Lin looked for the December 2011/January 2012  issue of Coastal Living Magazine in stores but couldn't find it. Sis could, but then she lives in Connecticut, and closer to the coast. She said even her CVS had it. Anyway, here's the file. I hope you like it. [I'm assuming that if you click on the image, you can see bigger type. Am about to try.]

BTW:

1. The word limit was 750. I had to cut it back from my original, but that turned out to be kind of fun, like solving a puzzle. I love the challenge of saying things colorfully in fewer words. And my words were in the hands of Stephanie, a very careful and capable editor. That helped.
2. By the time I was revising, the essay had moved from a summer 2012 issue to the December 2011 issue. So I made sure to tuck in some memories of winter trips to the Cape with Dad and Figgy. Those two poor souls--I would drag them everywhere, from Christmas fair to lighthouse to bake sale, even in the snow. He was too old and kind and she was too young to protest.
3. I had H., Figgy and calm, cool, wise Sis read it before it was published--Figgy because it mentions personal things about her, and Sis because I knew she could vet details about when our family started going to the Cape and what kind of fish Dad caught, etc. They okayed it. :)
4. I originally called it The Old Man and the Sea, which I thought was pretty clever. But editors know best, I think. A lot of readers have kindly responded via email to my essay, and told me about the cherished homes by the sea that their parents got for them--so Dad's Gift probably was better, especially around Christmastime.