“You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
Hello, my name is Cherry and I am pretty sure I am addicted to Negril. I will tell you for sure in 20 or so days, when I return with my husband for our second trip.
Having enjoyed so many of the reports on the board, I have thought for a while that the right thing to do would be to contribute back with a report of my own. I thought this back somewhere in April and have continued to think it would be a good idea. Thinking and actually doing is of course not the same thing. Now with only three weeks until we head back to Negril, the excitement is starting to drive me to distraction. Rather than quietly go crazy, I thought I might channel that energy into reliving our first trip with all of you on the board.
I will warn you upfront that if you are a big fan of the short version of a story, this report will not be for you. Though there will be a certain amount of we ate here and did that to the report, I am hoping that I will be able to successfully share with you moments that helped make our first trip so unforgettable. I aim to share my opinions and I do not claim them to be fact. If our opinions differ, please don't take offense.
Cherry is not the name I was born with, though it has been a second name of mine for a long time. There is no deep meaning to the name, it actually came from an obscure video game character, but over time it stuck. North49 is really a statement of geography, as I live North of the 49th parallel, in Winnipeg to be more exact.
The title of this report is from the first line of this song, which has without fail, made me think of Negril each and every time I have heard it since it came out last winter. The video was actually shot in Barbados, but close enough.
For this report, I am going to name my husband Sunshine, because he really is my sunshine. Even on the darkest days, I know he is there and will be there again the next day and the day after that. It is a warm and comfortable feeling.
Sunshine and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary back in May. We have no kids and no pets, though I've nothing against either one. We met in university, Sunshine was in his second year and I was in my first. Our first meeting was at a fraternity keg party, which I will admit is not the most romantic of venues. Romance together wasn't the plan though, as we were both there with other love interests. We soon became good friends and before the school year was done we were an item. I don't want to make it sound too perfect or easy, because over the last nearly twenty years there have certainly been times of challenge.
Outside of our jobs, we are one of those couples who tend to do most everything together and I like it that way. I prefer to think we are cute as opposed to nauseating. If that isn't the case, no one has yet to have the stones to point it out. We are both known to suffer from the excessive politeness that afflicts many Canadians, especially with people we don't know. Don't let the polite face fool you, we both have a rather wicked sense of humor that lurks right beneath the surface, but I will have to get to know you before I let it out.
I am an optimist and prefer to seek out the silver lining in life rather than dwell on the bad in things. I once described myself as laid-back to Sunshine and he actually laughed in my face. I was a bit put out. What can I say, I like to be organized and have a plan in place. I am however easily talked away from my plans and I generally don't let much of anything get in the way of having a good time.
