My father grew up very poor in southern Ohio. He never traveled until he joined the Navy at 17. Then he spent the Korean War on a destroyer escort sailing the Mediterranean and Bahamas.
He discovered he loved traveling.
After he returned to civilian life, he landed a job at the paper mill where he worked as an electrician and mechanic, keeping the machinery rolling.
With a good union job, he could afford to give his children things he never had.
And one of the things he did for us is he took us to the beach almost every year -- sometimes twice.
We traveled to Myrtle Beach almost every June. I loved the beach as a kid even when my sister and I walked too far away and our family thought us lost (an earlier happy story).
So I try to give the beach to my children too.
I took a second job to pay off bills and then put the money away for the beach.
Myrtle Beach was the beach of my childhood, but the beach I love now is Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
We stopped at Kitty Hawk and spent a couple of days, going to see the Wright Brother National Monument and eating terrific food at the Jolly Roger. We played at Jockeys Ridge.
We climbed a light house tower and we tried to fly a kite.
Then we continued our journey and went to Ocracoke Island.
I would like to tell you Ocracoke is the worst place on the planet and should be avoided at all costs. Never go to Ocracoke. There be pirates, bloodthirsty pirates infesting those waters.
That is not the truth. Since you are friends, I'll let you in on the secret that it is one of the best places in the nation.
I own most of Ocracoke Island. I share it with 285 million people, but I own it as much as anyone else in this country since it is a national park.
But if anyone else asks you about Ocracoke, tell them it's a hellish pit and to avoid it like the plague.
So we played on the beach and built castles and the oldest girl and I woke before dawn to go hunt seashells at low tide.
We listened to the surf and splashed in the water, charging as the tide pulled back and then racing to escape the next wave in a game of tag with the ocean.
The girls grew even more freckled and beautiful as did Ms. Carnacki.
So the gift my father gave me lives on.
And that's my happy story for tonight. Your happy story may be about anything you want it to be.