Why I Need An Island

I will never be geographically close to everyone nearest and dearest to me. It is impossible. Now, don't bring alternate universes or the afterlife into this conversation - I mean it sincerely and literally: I can't settle in any place on this earth and be within driving distance of all the people I want to be able to drop everything and go make dinner for, shake sense into, or embrace.

I first realized this several years ago. At this very moment, my favorite people are scattered throughout the Midwest, across the Deep South, the West Coast, the East Coast, across multiple oceans, in cities big and small, places far and wide. Not only can I never settle somewhere and be near all of them - but also, it seems that most years, I can't even visit as many of these far-flung family and friends as I would like.

So I have decided: I need an island.

I am not selfish. I know everyone has their own lives, and we can't just all be vacationing together, all the time. I also assume there are probably others out there who need the island I am about to describe, so I am willing to time-share this magical place. But I need it at least once a week, every year, so everyone I want to see can gather together for our annual week-long island vacation.

Island Week will be an oasis in time and space. In this oasis, we can sip our drinks with and beneath umbrellas. We can spend time catching up, relaxing, soaking up the sun and basking in each other's stories.

Preferably, this island will have its own time zone, one that makes days longer, so that no matter how late you sleep in, there is still plenty of day to experience when you wake, and the nights are long enough that you can both stay up until three a.m. discussing big ideas with the phenomenal people around you, and still manage to also get a good night's sleep.

The food on the island will be EXCELLENT; there will be music; there will be naps; and of course, there will be nightly play performances.

There will be no cell phones on the island (note: I did not say no cell RECEPTION - I already have that little piece of paradise's real estate, called My Apartment in Belhaven - I said NO CELL PHONES, because when all of my favorite people are in one place, who on earth will we need to call?).

And ... everyone will be healthy on the island. Even those struggling now with physical, mental and emotional challenges in their current everyday lives, will be granted reprieve for Island Week.

So. I need this island.

Is that too much to ask?