In January 2018, Curtis and I enjoyed a tropical vacation on the beautiful island of Kaui, Hawaii. The ache of Jordan’s death was still very present and heavy. One afternoon as we were lounging on the beach in the front of the hotel, we had a very unusual experience. A large turtle swam up to the edge of the shore directly in front of us and then proceeded to lumber towards us as if curious to make our acquaintance!
We kind of freaked out that the turtle had chosen a spot on the sand directly in front of us as a place to have a long afternoon rest, when there were many others places on the beach that would have offered more isolation and fewer people. Periodically, the turtle would open his eyes and gaze at us. We were entranced that this creature wanted to be so close to humans. We had a wonderful 3 hours of observing and talking to this beautiful turtle.
A friend later suggested that perhaps the turtle was Jordan’s spirit animal. While the idea does not quite fit our theology, Curtis and I now consider turtles to be our special friends. We’ve observed turtles of all shapes and sizes in our subsequent travels. We love exploring reefs that provide an opportunity to swim with the turtles. These fantastic animal encounters have been flooded with memories of Jordan who loved the water immensely and was gifted at many water sports, including sailing, water-skiing, fishing, and swimming!