This cross above the beach on Gasparilla Island caught my eye, so I took a photo of it.
The cross has an inscription on the bottom: “Our Brother Lorn Heimann 1973-1993”
As I was exploring beaches on Gasparilla Island, this wooden memorial cross caught my eye. I photographed it and wondered what the story behind the cross for Lorn Heimann was.
When I got home, I searched for information about Lorn Heimann on the internet and found what I was looking for in an article written by his mother for the Boca Beacon.
Lorn was an island son and grew up on Gasparilla in a time when there was still an air of wildness and adventure on an island that quickly became measured and well-heeled.
He had a dog named Weasel. He helped take care of sick or injured wildlife. He played the guitar. He liked to write. He had a treehouse and loved nature. No doubt he kept mom very busy.
But he left this world prematurely. A few too many drinks at a local pub followed by a drive on a narrow island road in the dark of night and he was gone. Who among us did not take foolish, uncalculated risks in the exuberance and inexperience of our youth?
Lorn’s cross stands overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, under a tall Australian pine in which Lorn once had a treehouse. Against the backdrop of a sea grape thicket, a few coconut palms and a bench by the sea stand watch over this place of memories. A carpet of pine needles softens the steps of people passing by on their way to the beach. Many, perhaps, stopping to contemplate the cross as I did.
A bench and a palm overlooking the Gulf on Gasparilla Island.
