Last weekend I checked off an item on my “bucket list” and visited Fire Island, a magic strip of sand 30 miles long resting between The Great South Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. It was as I had anticipated—a magical weekend with our surrogate grandchildren: Sam (10), Julianna (8), and Cece (3). These three along with their parents, Ken and Lynn Marran, live across the street from our old address in Mendham, NJ. Ken and Lynn came to Mt. Paul Road as bride and groom, buying the house across from us, a small replica of our house that was originally built for a mother-in-law. Over the years, the Marrans have transformed the house so that it is now a very large and very lovely family dwelling, a show place really, where Ken’s design skills and Lynn’s gardening expertise are evident. Last year Ken inherited the house on Fire Island, a house that had been in his family for three generations. Early in the 20 th Century, his grandmother bought lots of “cheap land” and built a summe...