their story

there are special moments in life when you know why you are exactly where you are.

i just had lunch with sam & bryce and heard part of their story...

on their 3 month honeymoon to the carribean some 10+ years ago they had the 'where do we want to be when we're older' conversation.

they decided they wanted to be right there...right in the carribean.

at one point they went by an island and they both just 'knew' that would be their island one day.

for the next 10 years they joked about the island and went back to visit every couple of years.

on one visit they heard that the land was being sold and that the islanders were getting worried.

their ears perked up and they began having discussions with friends on the island.

finally they heard the story of the island, the land, and its history:

back in the 1800's there was a wealthy white family who still kept slavery going 

(it was the last island to give it up)

one day a black, educated preacher arrived and began preaching on the island.

one of the rich, white daughters decided she wanted to hear this man and hid and listened...

eventually they fell in love and disclosed the affair to the family.

they were excommunicated from the strict catholic church and from the family for their intermarriage.

this well-educated black man and his wife eventually bought back some of the land from her siblings and is left it to her 6 children: 3 of which are christians and 3 who are not.

one of them, 'auntie annie', is losing her mind and her ruthless siblings are stealing her land from her for small sums of money.

the island is worth millions, if not more.

finally her only daughter stepped in and took over power of attorney to stop this from happening.

this daughter is shrewd, impatient, and leery of people wanting the land.

ironically, her name is grace.

on one visit bryce said that several times he and grace sat and tried to explain to auntie annie that he wanted to buy some of her land so that missionaries could come and vacation on the island.

finally she got up and went to the window with bryce in tow...

she showed him the family gravesite and said,

'this, this is my land. you go ahead and have that other land'.

they later found out that auntie annie's house was used as a harbor for missionaries as well.

funny how history has a way of repeating itself.

6 months later grace called bryce and sam and told them that her mother didn't want them to buy the land...

pause.

she wanted to give it to them.

11 acres of land...worth millions...just given.

and so, that's where they are.

they are working on signing papers and figuring out the rest.

it is an amazing story and the history makes it all the richer.

hearing it, i got chills.

and at one point i looked at both of them and got choked up.

i knew...i knew right then, 

this is why i'm here.

i came to hear this story.

and the best part is...

i've only been across the pond 12 days.

there are still so many stories to hear.