LEANING INTO LETTING GO
Photo by Walter Weaver / Crew
A view to forever...
This photo was taken aboard CALYPSO, my husband's elderly and oh-so-lovely sailboat. She was a member of his family going back 40 years; bought by my father-in-law in 1974 as a bare hull. It took seven long years to build her out. It was a labor of love and sometimes of contempt. She was never quite easy and that made her sassy. She was cranky and needy and sometimes, she was perfect.
In her heyday she journeyed from Long Island as far as the Bahamas. She sailed and she sailed. Her ships logs were well-kept by my husband's father and then by my husband. Food was lovingly prepared in her galley and enjoyed by hard drinking mates, happy crew members and passengers. But those are my husband's stories to tell now. He tells them well.
She ended her time with us in Sag Harbor where, mostly, she waited patiently while life began to have different, other plans for us. Still, she made a good voyage at least once a year carrying a core crew of men; friends who had grown to love her and their time together on the open water. My husband was a good and generous Captain; a loving steward of his father's legacy.
I watched as he began to wrestle with the idea of moving on and away from ownership of CALYPSO. I can only imagine that the reality of cutting ties also meant a final farewell to his father who had recently passed away.
And so...he finally let her go. She has a new Captain now and lives in the waters off of Connecticut. We can't see her, but we know she is there.
With the New Year right here I am thinking about how gracefully my man leaned into letting go. He freed himself up and now all manner of things are waiting for him. He is painting more and more. He is painting well. He is painting CALYPSO and he is painting water. He is painting out the memories and making way for a bigger, different view.
Painting by Richard Marr / Captain...Artist
©️ Caro Kalb-Marr
Comments