Well, yes, just in case you wondered, there is a first time for everything.
Yesterday we were at the site of the first mass celebrated in the new colonies – what is now the state of Maryland – in 1635 on St. Clement’s Island. It was a beautiful morning and we were up for the adventure. To find our way there we journeyed down the western / southern part of Maryland and, without ever traveling a straight line, arrived at Colton’s Point which sticks out into the width of the Potomac River where it almost meets the Chesapeake Bay. From there we took a water taxi over to St. Clement’s Island and proceeded to make the short hike to the lighthouse.
Amid the overgrown beach grass and the choir of cicadas, my husband rejoiced to remember his youth playing in the taller-than-he-was corn growing on the farm where he grew up. Enjoying the views as we walked, we met Monarch butterflies and various birds. 
The humans were scarce, until we stumbled on a family swimming in a little cove where they had docked their boat and jumped out for a swim. I heard the father exclaim to his family, “The water is wonderful! Come on in.”
Coming to the end of what was a walkable trail, we backtracked and found the real trail to the lighthouse. Surrounded by beautiful picnic grounds, and a few other visitors, the Lighthouse stands to warn seafarers, while a large white cross commemorates the site of the first Catholic service held in the colonies.
Yes, there is a first time for everything. I thought about the first time I was on a boat; the first time I was out in the “wilds” without other people around; the first time I played hide and seek in grass taller than I was . . . there are many firsts in our lives, each one of them a grace. But, hopefully, they are just that – “firsts,” and not “onlys” or “lasts.”
On the way home I experienced another “first,” which I hope will be an “only” and a “last”! After a lovely lunch, I lost a crown off of a tooth. So, this morning I am looking for a dentist and looking for the grace in this experience!