This morning after breakfast we make the call to Jimmy to say...
Draw up the contract.
Yippeeeeeeee.
I can't even tell you how relieved, happy and excited that moment was. We make an appointment to sign papers tomorrow.
And now there is more work to do. We have hired Presley for the day to take us to some of the more out of the way places starting at the north end of the island.
Descending the hill of the Columbus monument. Dear old Christopher landed here first, declaring it the most beautiful island in the world.
Photographing and filming things as we go and chatting with Presley all the way he has an idea for someone we could interview.
Miss Ophelia Smith.
So we drop on by and wait in the car while Presley goes into her house to see if she would take some visitors. She chews him out for not inviting us in directly.
At 86 she farms her own land. A fisherwoman too, she is strong as an ox and healthy as can be. We cram into her little blue house overlooking the bay and ask her if she could tell us some stories. With a giant smile that I will never forget she says she has only one story to tell.
It is about God.
For an hour this amazing woman tells us how her and her daughter were saved from drowning in a storm when her boat sank. She told us of her life raising 10 children on her beloved island. Over and over she proclaimed, "I am rich on God's grace". At one point as we were filming she looked at us and said how wonderful it was that god brought angels to talk with her (us) and then she paused, blinked twice and looked at her daughter Betty and said, "Betty, go get them something cold to drink". We laughed. We knew that she was not entertaining angels unaware, it was only us, and we were the ones that were blessed. She told us about the day that her beloved husband died with her in his arms, "right on this couch after praying for all his children and saying how much he loved me". I discovered that holding my little camera steady is tough while wiping tears with my sleeve. At the end of the visit as we were bidding farewell, she grabbed my hand with both of hers, looked into my eyes and told me, "be so good to your man and you will have blessings".
What a dear soul.
What an amazing place.
The day is getting on and we are at the furthest north end of the island (which is only 70 miles long) and we have a wedding to catch. Off we go.
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