Once upon a time your mom was young, and little, just like you are now. And in the summers she would go and visit her grandma on Pender Island. Her grandma and grandpa had a wooden house there that her grandpa built. It was small, and cozy and your mom loved it a lot.

One of the things your mom liked best was to go down to the beach at Trincomali and play. She would wear her blue flowered bikini, the one her grandma had bought in Hawaii. She would wear her blue floaties to keep her safe, and get her mom to put her blonde hair into pigtails. And she would wade in the water.

When your mom was little she was very curious, just like you. She liked to look in the water and discover things. Sometimes there were pinchy crabs, sometimes there were perfect pieces of wood that would float into the bay.

One day there was a jellyfish. It was a day your mom’s cousin Drew was visiting. He was younger than your mom by six whole months, which is a lot when you’re only two. Your mom was wading in the water and saw a funny bubble floating. She looked some more and saw more funny bubbles floating. They were just below the surface of the ocean, shiny and squiggly.

Your mom was curious. She reached out to touch the funny bubble. It was squishy and slimy. And then, your mom picked up the funny bubble. She held it very carefully in her hand and took it show her grandma.

“What’s that?” your mom asked.

Her grandma leaned over from where she was sitting in the sand and looked. “That’s a jellyfish,” her grandma said. “You caught a jellyfish.” And her grandma smiled.

“There’s lots more, grandma,” your mom said. She took her grandma’s hand and pulled her to the ocean where the jellyfish were riding on the waves. “Look!” your mom pointed with her little fingers.

“I see,” her grandma nodded.

Your mom took the jellyfish to show her cousin. “Look!” your mom said, and stuck the squiggly, shiny jellyfish under his nose.

“Eew,” her cousin Drew whined, and toddled backwards in the sand. The parents chuckled, and his mom came to cuddle him. “It’s ok, it’s just a jellyfish,” she said.

Your mom was confused, but she didn’t want her cousin to be scared. She waded into the water and put her hand underneath a wave. The jellyfish floated to ride the waves again. “Bye, bye jellyfish,” your mom said.