Nine Days on a Sailboat

My father has always wanted to sail around the Greek islands. This year, for his seventieth birthday, my siblings and I rented a small sailboat with a captain and took him.

For nine days, we hopped from island to island. We swam in water so clear we could see our toes thirty feet below. We ate grilled octopus in harbor tavernas where the owners treated us like family. We watched the sun go down over whitewashed villages with blue domes.

My father, who worked six days a week for forty years, lay on the deck every afternoon in a straw hat and did absolutely nothing. He said it was the first time he'd ever done nothing in his life. He said he was very good at it.

On the last night, he made a toast with a glass of ouzo. He thanked us for "the best birthday a man could ever have." We thanked him for being the reason we could give it.