So, I told you that I was not amused upon learning that my “boyfriend” had gone to visit another girl. Allow me to explain how things happened in my world at that time. In my hometown everybody knew everybody so it didn’t take long before a “good samaritan” came to my office to let me know about how the “boyfriend” (lets call him Arthur, not his name) left my house and had gone to visit the other girl. That evening when Arthur showed up at my house, I confronted him about his visit and he told me that the girl meant nothing to him that, he had gone out of “courtesy” because the girl’s mom was a friend of his mom, but so was my mom! Well, I wasn’t buying it and asked him to leave. A few days later, there was a formal dance in town and yes, Arthur approached and asked me to dance to which I agreed because he was, and still may be, a good dancer. While dancing, he asked me to reconsider our getting back together but I was determined not to do so and told him. Arthur then told me that he loved me and would never forget me, we finished the dance and went our separate ways.
Enter Bill. A couple weeks later was when I went chasing the family friend into the restaurant and met the man who, some six months later, became my husband.
Soon after we met, Bill started writing and sending me poems, bouquets of wild flowers, a bird nest with a couple of egg shells, and even sent me serenatas!! Do you think he was pursuing me?? I remember one weekend Bill invited me to go visit the island where he lived and was building a hunting and fishing lodge. I promptly told him that my parents would not allow me to go anywhere unchaperoned; he looked at me puzzled and asked why? I responded that it was a long standing cultural custom. Well, he wanted to show me the place so he told me that I could invite anyone I wanted. My mom, younger sister and two good friends went along. That Saturday around 9 a.m. we went down to the dock and boarded his boat. That boat was one of the fastest boats around, it had a 75 mph outboard motor so we got to the island in no time. The little island called Cayo Paloma (Dove Key) is a small piece of land situated within a large expanse of water where the river, Rio Dulce, becomes was is called Golfete almost midway between where the river begins in Lake Izabal and where it ends in the Caribbean Sea. The Rio Dulce is an idyllic, beautiful and peaceful destination point visited by nationals and people from all over the world; one can see sail boats flying flags from different countries; I was blessed that it was my backyard.
The day arrived when Bill and I got married; I had not told anyone that it was happening so it caught people by surprise and some started maligning me by saying that “I had to get married because I was three months pregnant” Not so, I’m not shy to tell you that my husband didn’t put a hand on my until after we were married; however, I didn’t care what people said, I was in heaven, or so I thought at the time.
In the beginning, life was awesome. We were visited by a lot of well known people such as the US ambassador, other personnel from the embassy but I in particular remember the US Army Attache: Coronel Cecil Edwards, he was a very tall, friendly, funny and thoughtful man who when he visited for the second time, brought his wife and son to see the beauty of the Rio Dulce. Among others who visited Cayo Paloma, where a couple of journalists who worked for Field & Stream magazine; alas, I only remember the name of Mr. Glen Lau. Those two gentlemen were so kind to me as I couldn’t communicate well because my lack of English but they where trying their best to teach me to sing “row, row, row your boat gently down the stream…….” Now I know the song but at the time I think it was hilarious. That’s the first time I heard the name: Jacksonhole, Wyoming as one of them had a ranch there. I have so many fond memories of those times.
Last July, I traveled to my home country with two of my grandchildren. I took them to my hometown and went in the required boat ride through the Rio Dulce. I asked the boat captain to take us up to see Cayo Paloma, which is now a bird sanctuary; while we circled the island, I explained to my grandchildren where our boats where kept and where the house had been. However, I declined to disembark because there are snakes galore as is a sanctuary. On our way back we stopped at a restaurant on the shores of the river where there are thermal waters. We enjoyed laddering each other with hot mud from the bottom of the river; we laughed a lot and afterwards went into the restaurant for some refreshments. While sitting there, the boat captain came to me and told me that the cook said that he knew of my late husband and me having lived in el Cayo (as is called by locals) when I asked how he knew, he told me that his grandparents used to tell them about Mista (mister) Bill and his wife who had lived there and for whom they worked; that his mother and uncles used to talk about how we would go visit their home and Bill would play with them. Needless to say, I was emotional because I felt that my past was being validated by that young man.
Alright, I will leave it here as there’s so much more that’s coming forth but will have to wait for another time.
‘Till next time,