More than two decades ago, after Hurricane Dennis finally let Outer Banks vacationers get back to enjoying nature’s playground, I fell in love with kayaking.

It turned out to be a forever love.

For six days our family was stuck inside our rental home as the hurricane battered the ocean front homes.

I was more than ready for an outdoor adventure. I convinced the women in our family to try something new.

At the time I probably couldn’t even spell kayaking, much less paddle through the Albemarle Sound. But it sounded like fun.

Despite an auspicious start when I fell into the shark infested water and had to be pulled a long way to shore, it was an outing that changed my life. I found a lifetime love in kayaking.

I signed up for a kayaking series of classes, took a water safety course, and joined two kayak clubs.

Kayaking got even more adventurous when I discovered the thrill of white water kayaking. I think some of the best times in my life were kayaking through white water in the Lehigh and the Delaware rivers.

Kayaking was my comfort, my joy.

When I moved to Florida it was joining two kayak clubs that gave me a passport to fun times and friendships.

When I met David the main thing we had in common was our love of kayaking and outdoor activities.

I could never imagine not kayaking any more.

But time has a way of making the unimaginable happen. With David’s health problems he can no longer kayak. And I can no longer transport my own kayak.

My car is two inches higher than the old one. I, on the other hand, am an inch or two shorter, no longer able to get my kayak strapped to the top of my car.

I’m still struggling for a solution.

When we had to sell our boat it wasn’t a big loss. For me, not kayaking is a major loss.

I keep running through my mind the versus in Ecclesiastes “To everything there is a season.”

“A time to weep, a time to laugh,

A time to mourn and a time to dance.

A time for everything under the sun.”

I think it’s the Bible’s most practical lesson for navigating change.

Through the years I’ve had to struggle with accepting changes I never wanted.

Reciting the verse “To everything there is a season” implies a bitter truth. The season will end some day.

We can dance. Sure.

But the dance will end some day, whether we want it to or not.

It’s the way it is. The way it has to be.

What that all means to me is that we have to relish every season of our life.

We have to enjoy every single bite of this banquet of life.

When I first encountered a personal meaning to the verses in “To everything there is a season” I was in a truly joyful time of life. My role as mother to my two precious daughters was one that I cherished.

I was just a young mother but no one had to tell me time was short and time would sweep away their childhood sooner than I wanted.

I grew up in a home where cleanliness is next to godliness was the order of every day.

There was no lingering with family until dishes were done and everything scrubbed down.

With my own children, dishes could wait until they were in bed. There were games to play and silly dances to make us laugh.

We danced in a circle and sang the song, “Dance with the Dolly with the hole in her stocking.” It’s all sweet memories.

I often wished I could put my two little girls in a bubble to keep them that way forever. I accepted that everything had its season. I just wanted that season not to end.

Over the decades I’ve learned the truth behind the fable about a stranger approached a new town.

The stranger asked the wise man what the next town was like.

The wise man countered by asking the stranger about the town he left.

If the stranger said his former town was awful, the wise man said then the next town was also awful.

If the stranger said his old town was quite wonderful, the wise man told him he would find the next town was also wonderful.

For me, it brought home the point that while we may be sad at leaving behind one stage of our life, we can anticipate finding joy in other stages.

Personally, I found that to be true. I hated having to leave my hometown with all its many pleasures.

What I learned, despite my misgivings, was that the next town, was, indeed even more special than the one I left.

Now, as I leave behind the season of my athletically active life that I can no longer fully maintain, I have to trust that around the next corner is another season with its own rewards.

I appreciate all the Ecclesiastes versions in various Bibles. While they may differ a little in each version, each is a reminder that The Grandmaster’s plan for us includes a season for everything.

But it’s definitely hard to accept the end of a season we relish.

Contact Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net