The Gift of Seashells: A Father’s Hope for His Children

The Gift of Seashells: A Father’s Hope for His Children
The author (R) with his children. Courtesy of Wayne A. Barnes
Wayne A. Barnes
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On a recent trip to the Dominican Republic, I had the opportunity to purchase five seashells. I haggled for them in Spanish with a man at a roadside stop, perhaps the last hurdle to prove that one is finally fluent in a foreign language. But the goal was to bring home the goods at the best price possible, and I think I succeeded, although exactly how much a Dominican peso is worth each day in U.S. dollars is always a question. But I wanted to have the shells for a good reason—as you will see.

Seashells have always captivated me. Whether they are the large but very plain clamshells I played with on the Jersey Shore as a child, or the small but intricate ones found on Sanibel and Captiva Islands off the Gulf Coast of Florida, each one is different and has its own story.

Wayne A. Barnes
Wayne A. Barnes
Author
Wayne A. Barnes was an FBI agent for 29 years working counterintelligence. He had many undercover assignments, including as a member of the Black Panthers. His first spy stories were from debriefing Soviet KGB defectors. He now investigates privately in South Florida.
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