The plan was simple. Florida author Becky Magnolia would devote one month to interviewing small-business owners who live and work along A1A, Florida's coastal byway. Their stories and insights would be self-published in a small book that would (hopefully) make enough money to pay for her iced coffee addiction.
However, as the interviews progressed, a very different story emerged, and it became apparent that a more authentic, oh-so-human story was asking to be told.
As a result, this "fun little tourist book" quickly evolved into a heartfelt adventure full of inspiring conversations and profound reflections, incorporating not only the words of others but also Becky’s journal entries and photographs she took along the way.
Join local author Becky Magnolia and her new-found friends as they reflect on small-town coastal living and explore together what it means to live a life rich with curiosity, compassion, and love.
“Frankly, there isn’t anyone you couldn’t love once you’ve heard their story.”
–Mary Lou Kownacki
​“If we love each other, then that will spread out to whoever comes as well. In training, we say to new employees, ‘If you feel like you need to talk to somebody for an extra five minutes, don't worry; we'll get the cooking down. Let's take the time to make a friend because that's our main purpose to be here—not just to run a successful business, but to make a friend.”
“When I read (the prayer) a year after Ed died, I was like, ‘Are you kidding me? This prayer has been here all the time?’ You know, it's sort of like how they say something appears to you when you're ready to receive it. I guess I wasn't ready to receive it that first year.” She pulls out the prayer and reads it to me:“O, Holy Spirit. Beloved of my soul. I adore you. Enlighten me. Guide me. Protect me. Console me. Tell me what I should do. Give me your orders and I promise to submit myself entirely to you. Let me only know your will.” After reading, she explains, “What I realized is that I didn’t need to be looking for the thing that would dictate the course of the rest of my life.”
“When I realized there were no groups who were talking about my view of spirituality, I started to shift and started going in negative ways. You know, smoking pot, drinking. I mean, at an early age. I was smoking cigarettes at twelve. Why did I do that? To numb out. I had to numb the spirituality because it was so powerful in my world that I couldn't really talk about it. So I had to numb it for a few years.”
“So you said you were numbing out the spirituality. What do you mean by that?” I ask.
He pauses to reflect and then speaks slowly. “When I walked into the woods, it was almost like communication on a different level."
“One day, I was sitting here, and there were probably four million dollars’ worth of cars in the parking lot. The least expensive was probably one hundred eighty thousand dollars. And at the same time, we had people who rode up on their bicycles because it's their only mode of transportation. Nobody speaks poorly of anybody else. Nobody looks down on anybody else.”
“I've already told my staff, ‘Listen, I don't care what anybody's walk of life is. I don't care what their belief system is. I don't care who they are, what they identify as. We are loving everybody the same way…We're here to love the world and to love our community.”
“So when you moved here, were you instantly charmed by Flagler Beach?” I ask.“No,” Donald answers point blank. “No. I don’t like the ocean.”I laugh. ”I know that sounds odd, but she loves the ocean. I do not. I’m a mountain person. I've loved the mountains forever.” Don continues, “But Flagler? No, Flagler was just Flagler. I wasn’t sold on it. It wasn't that it wasn’t a nice area...but, I dunno, it kind of grows on you. It really does. I think the people mainly do. You start to get to know people…and it’s like everything could be going bad and twenty-five people will step up to try to help you make it good.
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