Yes, it really is, as Red said, as blue as it was in my dreams.

The very first time I ever saw it I was with my son and we were on our first trip to the west coast. We were going to San Francisco where I had a meeting and he could hang out for a couple of days. We went to the Golden Gate Bridge, to the Seven Sisters, to Coit Tower, and to Pier 39.  We walked to Lombard Street and even went into the chocolate factory shop. It was a great trip, and it was great to see him so happy about being somewhere he had never been before.

As we flew into the city, I looked out of the plane window. He, seated on the window seat, was fascinated to see the beautiful blue ocean below us. I looked over at him, and I said that, indeed,the Pacific was as blue as it had been in my dreams.

I love the movie Shawshank Redemption. It is about being falsely accused of something and doing time for a crime you never committed and punishment you never deserved. I loved the movie when I first saw it, and I remember so many lines from it even to this day.

When I first saw it, I was in a bad relationship from which I thought I would honestly never escape. Like Red, I felt like I went to the parole board time and time again, never to have  parole granted. I felt like I would never be able to escape the loneliness and fear that I felt.

Then I saw the Pacific and knew that I could.

The ocean is full of dreams and hopes, as it has been for many centuries. Men sailed the ocean blue in 1492 to discover new worlds and new ways of life. They were trying to find their riches, and they succeeded. Men have sailed the ocean alone, in the hopes of seeking out an adventure. It can be a very dark and lonely place, at night when the sky is cloudy and the moon and stars are blocked from view. It can be a scary place full of storms and huge creatures that can swallow a boat whole.  It can be you enemy, but more than anything, it can be your hope for change. That is what it was for me.

I knew during the trip that I could escape the horror that had become my everyday existence. I knew that there was a great big world out there, just waiting for me to grab and follow. I knew that my dreams, like the blue of the ocean, were something I could reach and achieve.

And I did. And I have.

I am 110 days away from graduating from law school. This is something that would never have been possible  in my old life. I was told that that dream of mine was stupid and something that I would never be able to do. Well, I am doing it. You were wrong!

May you find your Pacific. May you never give up on you own dreams, even when you are told they are stupid or impossible. May your Pacific be as blue as it is in your dreams.

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