Bravely, She Started Over ...

One of the most Courageous Women I've Ever Met

Everyone has their own special story. Have I ever told you about the lady I met who Went on Vacation and Decided to Stay?

It was years ago, when I was on a Caribbean cruise. I met her the day our cruise ship docked on St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands for some fun in the sun. She is one of the most courageous women I have ever known.

It was a long walk down the pier from the cruise ship into town. I walked, keeping time with the catchy steel drum island music coming from a nearby band.

At the end of the pier, under huge colorful umbrellas, were tables overflowing with beautiful handmade items. Painted shirts and colorful sundresses hung from racks and island women in even brighter clothing and headwear greeted us warmly.

Looking a little out of place amid the dark-skinned island women was a petite and attractive 40-ish blond-haired woman. Her table was overflowing with rows of delicate handmade jewelry crafted from colorful sea glass, smoothed by years of tumbling in the aqua blue Caribbean tides.

As I admired her jewelry, we talked. I asked if she designed and crafted all of it herself and she nodded. She told me she walked the beach in the mornings to find the smooth colored glass, then worked all week creating her one-of-a-kind jewelry designs.

Every weekend, the cruise ships came into port and by Sunday evening, she had sold everything. Monday mornings again found her walking the beach and gathering her colored sea glass.

She was proud of the lucrative jewelry business she had built on her own, “Jill Margate’s Sea Glass Creations”.

She shared that she had left a high profile Wall Street job, a high rise apartment, and the fast-paced rat race behind her in New York City. On St. Thomas, she enjoyed a slow, peaceful life and she would never again live anywhere else.

When I heard that, I just had to know how she came to live on St. Thomas. It was a long, long way from New York City!

“I guess you could say I was blindsided. Ten years ago, my then husband took me on a cruise for my birthday. Four days into the cruise, he told me he was in love with someone else and he wanted a divorce.

I never said a word. I went back to our stateroom, packed my suitcase and got off at the next port, which was here —it's the best thing I’ve ever done and I’ve never looked back.”

She gave him no satisfaction. That took courage and a lot of inner strength. I have never forgotten Jill and how she handled a very difficult turning point in her life … BRAVA, blond lady … BRAVA.

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