True Story of One Woman’s Courage
She Went on Vacation and Decided to Stay
Years ago, I was on a Caribbean cruise. The ship had just docked for a day of fun on the beautiful island of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands.
It was a long way down the pier from the cruise ship into town. We walked, keeping in step with the steel drum island music coming from somewhere nearby. I could see at the end of the pier, under huge colorful umbrellas, were tables overflowing with beautiful handmade items. Island women in even brighter clothing and headwear warmly greeted us all the way down the pier.
Painted shirts and colorful sundresses hung from racks on either side of the pier. Boxes of hand-woven sandals were stacked beside the clothing, and trays of sunglasses with frames in every color called to the cruise ship passengers to protect their eyes from the Caribbean sun.
Looking out of place amid the island women was a petite 40-ish blond-haired woman. Her table was full of exquisite handmade jewelry. Each piece was crafted from colorful sea glass, smoothed from eons of tumbling in the Caribbean tides.
As I admired her jewelry, we talked. I had to know if she designed all of it herself and she nodded. She told me she walked the beach every morning to find the smooth glass pieces, then worked all week creating her one-of-a-kind jewelry. On the weekends, the cruise ships came into port and she always sold everything. Then on Monday, she started all over again.
She shared that she had left a high profile job —-and the rat race, behind 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 had to ask 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 happened to be here —it's the best thing I ever did and I’ve never looked back.”
**** That took courage and a lot of inner strength … BRAVA, blond lady … BRAVA indeed.
Poet/Writer/Author of 5 books.
Quora Top Writer 2018.
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You describe perfectly the sights and sounds of leaving the ship in St Thomas. Brings back a good memory of good times.
A precious glass jewel not jaded in any way that hangs around a neck a good choice to leave for sea grape trees ripe fruit picked by flowery flowing dresses with wrapped scarves around their heads.
Your story takes me to st croix it seems yesterday a flight away from gloomy NY daze but I didn’t stay. My youth got in the way; had to return to school to recover from rum soaked shorts and sandals torn to ponder a woman’s grace who left me high and dry with a memory manifold that roars down the street Hollywood mufflers on my ears quiet in my old nights now accepting my choice .