It was a long time coming.....

It was a dream. It was inevitable. It was a long time coming!

As the next wave of our great adventure is about to begin, I am compelled to speak about and acknowledge those people who are responsible for it..…totally responsible.

I address you, Willoughby Riggs senior, primarily.  We have never met but you have been on my mind and lovingly in my heart for almost my entire life and of course, in the captain`s forever.  My husband, my friend, and my captain is your son, was your namesake, and a product, I believe, of the sea.  Although you were unable to see him grow into the gifted sailor that he is, I am calling upon you, also a gifted sailor, now, from the deeps, claimed by the power and the majesty of the ocean, to watch over and protect your boy, my beloved, as he steers his own ship forward.  Your task, sir, is great again and I will accept nothing less.

I was fortunate to have wonderful parents who instilled a sense of wonder for many things in life in me. It is tremendous and overwhelming by times to realize how much of a gift they were to me.  Without their guidance,  I would not have been able to take on this odyssey, this next voyage in my life. 

My captain has had the gift of three sets of parents who gave him so much. His birth parents, Theresa and Willoughby, gave him life, an inner strength bred into him that goes beyond the boundaries of understanding sometimes, and the legacy of a long line of sea faring folk.  His parents, those who could watch him grow and they, who shaped the person he is, are the most incredible of people. Their loyalty, laughter, and endless love made it possible for him to trust in his self-imposed challenges and believe that he can realize his dreams. Thank you, Joyce and Albert. Your loving care has been so endearing and has so enriched both of our lives. The third set, including their daughter, have passed us by, however not without laying down some extraordinarily memorable life lessons.

All these parents rewarded my captain the luxury of many siblings, twelve of them in total, each one an exceptionally high achiever.   They, with their partner’s support, their friendship and their impact, as integral pieces of the fabric of his life, was and remains constant.  Words cannot express how deeply each of their influences has helped to model and pattern his world and mine. Thank you, each one of you; it means so much more than I can describe.

Our own two children, our two grandchildren and our son and daughter in law; these people, oh my – these people are loved beyond belief – sometimes the captain and I are unable to speak because the emotion is so encompassing – they are our inspiration, they are our legacy and they afford  us the fortitude to sail happily forward. Thank you all, for your encouragement and faith.

Each one of these special people in our lives has played a role in some unexpected but explicit manner to help chart our course forward, aid our navigation through the excitement we feel as we depart and inspired our winds of change. Now that our dream is alive in the harbour, waiting to set sail, each person well deserves and has our sincerest acknowledgement. 

Each one of you is responsible!