HGTV Star Reflects on ‘Good in the World’ After Scary Moment
By Movieguide® Contributor
A frightening moment at an Italian beach reminded HGTV star Jenny Marrs that “we are all united in our humanity.”
“There was a scary rip current near where we swam today. Charlotte got stuck in it and thankfully Ben was there to grab her and, immediately, Dave jumped in to bring her to shore,” she wrote on Instagram.
However, as the family got ready to leave, her husband Dave “noticed a family struggling in the same spot and yelled to me as I was walking nearby with the littles and he was rounding up the big kids.”
“I ran over and shouted for others to help. No one hesitated,” Marrs continued. “A man and several others jumped in the water and we worked together to bring them safely ashore. As we did so, another little girl went in without knowing the danger. Her sister, then her mom, tried to swim out to her and both got stuck in the current. It was terrifying as the mom panicked and almost brought the young man trying to save her under. Eventually, everyone made it to safety.”
She wrote, “I was reminded today that we are all united in our humanity. No one hesitated when we saw the first little girl struggling to stay above the water. Strangers jumped in and acted, risking their own lives to help. Everyone worked together and then checked on one another after all were back on shore.”
Marrs described comforting the mother of one of the kids stuck in the rip current, saying, “We didn’t share a language or a culture, and yet, we shared a bond as mothers.”
“As I processed what happened, I realized: there is still a whole lot of good out there in the world,” she concluded. “Let’s remember this truth and not listen to the lies trying to divide us and tell us otherwise.”
The Marrs family is currently on vacation in Italy, a country that is very special to the couple.
“Many years ago, there were two kids who loved adventuring together,” Marrs wrote in an Instagram post about the country. “Early in their marriage, they stepped off an airplane and onto magical soil where they fell in love with a foreign, yet, somehow familiar, land. Their souls exhaled. They made new friends who would remain in their lives in unbelievable ways for the next seventeen years.”
She has been posting videos and photos of her family of seven’s adventures around Italy this summer.
“Truly, I believe travel can restore and delight us unlike anything else,” she wrote in a recent post. “In this foreign land, with a foreign language and foreign culture; I’m forced to be present and notice the dance of life taking place all around me. A dance I often miss at home, distracted.”
Marrs continued, “This time away together (alongside dear friends who have become an extension of our family over the years), has been an incredible gift: a chance to pause, breathe deeply and remember the steps to that breathtakingly beautiful dance.”
Movieguide® previously reported on the Marrs’ time in Italy:
“In the summer of 2021, our family was in desperate need of rest after a demanding year,” she wrote. “So, we cashed in airline miles, turned off our cell phones and brought the kids for their first visit to one of my absolute favorite places on earth: Italy.”
“We spent time in off-the-beaten-path villages where we practiced the melodic language, ate unforgettable meals prepared with fresh ingredients, kicked soccer balls in nearly-vacant piazzas, explored ancient cathedrals and marveled at the astounding handiwork of God as we took in the beauty of mountains and sea,” she continued.
“Every visit to Italy leaves me longing for more. I find the country, her people and the array of culture unendingly captivating. Watching this magical land woo my kids for the first time was sheer joy,” Marrs concluded.
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