In a Caribbean paradise

It is Friday, December 14th. The suite where I am staying is on the second floor of one of the 47 buildings on the property for guests. As mother of the bride, I have the suite to myself that includes a private bath and air conditioning. Although it is a couples resort, I am alone, but I am not lonely. There are 2 beds in my room and a ceiling fan over my bed. The windows have wooden shudders that open to the outside. Double doors open out onto an inviting patio with its lamp, chair, sofa and table. This morning, I have made Jamaican coffee and lain down on the sofa outside to read my meditations before breakfast.

It is so beautiful here in Jamaica -- so peaceful at this resort--I think it is the most beautiful place I have ever been in my life. I have seen places like this only in the movies, but here I am now basking in this warm and humid paradise. Palm trees and floral shrubs are abundant throughout the property and tiny birds chirp in the trees nearby. The walkways wind in and around the property. At one end of the resort is "the big house" whose second floor contains an Internet Cafe and casino. Use of the Internet is free to guests and I go there to read and send e-mails.

At the Palm Restaurant I join my daughter and her husband and some of her friends already enjoying breakfast. Then I invite KB and her husband Jim to my room. They are in a suite upstairs on the opposite side of the building. They arrived last night, having traveled all the way from New Mexico to be present for the wedding and for some R&R. KB and I had not visited each other since I was in South Carolina with my Mother and brother three years ago. We had a wonderful heart-filled 2-hour visit together. She sat on the other bed next to mine and Jim relaxed in a chair in the corner of the room opposite my bed and listened as we poured out our hearts. Now that Kate has completed her Ph.D.,she will reduce her workload and will retire within one year to join Jim who is already retired. Two of their daughters--Rebecca and Katie-- are here also. Rebecca, a third year law student at Georgeton, is one of the bridesmaids and is singing in the wedding tomorrow. Her older sister Katie, a nurse, is rooming with her. It feels so good to reconnect with KB and her family. She asks me about the cruise I took in November with my cousin Mary Edith and I explain to her how Mary Edith had inspirated me early in my life. In 1959 she had participated in the first sit-in demonstration to integrate the lunch counter in Lynchburg which resulted in her spending 30 days in jail. I admired her courage and social activism and several years later, during my junior year in college, I worked in the projects for a summer in New Orleans and gave a young black boy free organ lessons.

Jamaican food is delicious and there is so much of it here at the resort - but I am being very good and not eating too much. I had a strawberry daiquiri for dessert at lunch. Tonight the members of the wedding party will meet for a rehearsal dinner. The wedding is tomorrow (Saturday) at 4 p.m. and Sunday I return to Richmond, but I hope to swim in the warm Caribbean waters before I leave Jamaica!

Now I will go back to my room and work on my dress. I have to sew the hem in it because it is too long. I had to whack it off at the bottom before I left Richmond.

It is great to celebrate being alive, to have friends and share special moments like this.