I told you the best part of the story was yet to come. First, a brief history. Here goes......
The first island I ever loved is/was Orr's Island. This is where I first joined my family as a baby. This is where I learned about the ocean, hauling traps, fishing, love, dysfunction, hard work, how to be a bartender. Many of life's lessons I learned from two of the most important people in my life, my grandparents. I loved these two fiercely, they were my heroes, my rocks. What little girl wouldn't love a grandfather who let her be his sterngirl? What little girl wouldn't love a grandmother who was there for her unconditionally through good times and bad?
When I was very young my grandparents were married and they lived together on my beloved island. As time went on life happened, they separated, but their house remained a member of the family. This house has always been an old friend. Like my grandmother, it was always there when you needed a shoulder to cry on or a place to stay.
In the 90s my family moved in with my grandmother. My mother, my father, myself, and my sisters. Tragedy struck, my grandfather died unexpectedly, and we were forced to leave a house that we were renting from him. So, to grandmother's house we went. Life was dysfunctional to say the least, but we had each other, and we had a roof over our heads.
Time went on, my grandmother gave (yes, you read that right, gave) the house to my parents. They took out a mortgage on it, they renovated it, they made it ours......Yup, then they divorced.....My father took the separation very hard. He gambled away his money, and in essence, he gambled away the house. We lost our home. We lost the house that was home to so many, not just us. This house had been part of the family since the 50s. My father and his siblings were raised there. Many members of the family, and even the occasional friend, called this house home. it was a gathering place with an open door policy. You were always welcome for a snack, a drink, a game, a place to stay.
Losing that house was, for lack of a better word, devastating. Through the years that have passed since we lost it I have driven by just to say hello to my house and shed some tears. The house is in a neighborhood that has stories from generations of my family. my grandmother, and also her father, grew up in this neighborhood.
Well folks, the stars have aligned. I am leaving one beautiful island adventure, and I. Am. Going. Home!!!!!!! I will bring my children home to my beloved island, my beloved house. They will see, hear and smell the ocean from their bedroom windows, and their front yard. I will show them all the places I explored as a child. We will even cook meals together on the same stove my grandmother used to feed us. If this is a dream, please DO NOT wake me up!!!! God is good. All the time.
Blessings to you.
Thanks for reading, Island Momma