Jamaica Return - 2011 (Soon Come)

“Come on….. 5 more!” The VA Physical Therapist’s hot breath was stinging the back of my neck as I pushed the 250# weight with all the force my legs could muster. “You wanna be able to walk when you get to Jamaica, or not?” she barked. I bristled at even the implications of that statement. Do I WANT to be able to walk? Now, just how stupid was that? It did push me to depress that weight 4 more times in rapid succession before dismounting the torture machine and grabbing my towel.

“Good job!” she said in a softer tone. I had a love-hate relationship with this ex-drill sergeant but I did appreciate all the individual attention. I smiled and nodded my head slightly as I plopped down on the bench and began to re-strap my knee brace. It has been a long journey after over two years of wheelchair confinement to this point. It was only a short 5 months ago that I had to push my wheelchair down that long hallway three times a week and now I was walking although a little shakily down that same corridor.

I stopped off at the Main Office where a Jamaican veteran formerly from Highgate in Saint Mary had his desk. I always looked forward to our chats about Jamaica as he seemed to miss it almost as much as I did but he was reluctant to leave his job to return to live there. “Whaaagwan, Bill?” he smiled and stuck out his hand in friendship. “Naagwan” was my standard reply as nothing seemed to ever be going on while I was separated from my greatest love; Jamaica. “When are you going?” he continued. “Not soon enough but getting there likkle by likkle.” I smiled in return. 27 years of traveling around the island rushed through my mind as I would hear the name of a place and a mental picture of it and names of people I knew around there would flash like a home movie on a flickering projector across my mind’s-eye. I prayed that age and time would never dim the vivid images of those people and places. I didn’t want to keep him from his work and now my batteries were recharged and I was ready to head for the transportation van to take me home.

I pressed my face against the van’s window as I studied the ever changing landscape of new businesses and empty buildings that lined the winding route as we let off fellow veterans at their homes or assisted living residences. All I could think about was Jamaica and sometimes a particular building or bush would remind me of somewhere on the island. Seventy days of Jamaica would be a good refresher since it has been 4 long years since I set eyes on her beauty. I am retired now and my confining life in So. Florida is loosing its grip on my body but it never had my soul. This is the first step in a soon to be “six months here and six months there” lifestyle that I used to live in my younger and healthier days.

I don’t like to share a lot of where and when I will be someplace in Jamaica as I like chance meetings with fellow tourists but would rather spend my time with locals and old friends. My home in Jamaica is in Accompong Town and that is where I long to be. As I travel through the “soon come” seventy days, I will add to this thread and not make it a Trip Report at the end as I never want the journey to end!

Soon Come

So happy to see that you are making big progress. Looking forward to your trip report and hoping that I can return by January. My recuperation is a long journey also.

I myself know "the way back is tough"....keep on-keepin on....
Bless and Respect

Sending healing prayers to all of you, you've already got faith and persistence working for you! Jamaica awaits!

Thanks for the good wishes and prayers...Goldilocks, Rambo and Jamaica Miss.
I meant to add this on the other post as it helps to set the stage for the visit to come.

Respect

Although I have traveled, lived and visited all over Jamaica at various times over these past almost 3 decades, a few places have captured my heart in such a way that I am inexplicably drawn to them like a moth to a candle’s flame. This journey is not about the past as that I have lived and at times barely survived. No, this is about the present and the future. It’s a future that I have seen a million times in flashes of dreams and now I want to fashion them into a livable version of those fantasies.

My dearest and closest friend lives in Jamaica and, more exactly, in Accompong Town. We have traveled together; laughed together and (at times) even shed a few tears together. We were thrown together first by purpose and then by choice. We first met when the Colonel of the Accompong Maroons, Martin Luther Wright (deceased) placed this wide-eyed “intruder” into his protective custody as I ventured into an area of Jamaica where you needed permission to enter. Over the years, he has become a brother and a teacher while I have been eager to study and follow him as he led by example.

A couple of years back, I had to make a decision on how and where I wanted to live my golden years of retirement. Was I going to resign myself to living those years here in So. Florida being cared for at an Assisted Living Facility or was I going to take control of my life and live in Jamaica. I am a realist and know that Jamaica can be difficult at times and that sometimes there is a real advantage to living in the US especially for health care reasons. That is why I decided to pursue a “6-month here and 6-month there” approach to my plan. While I was working on getting my health together, I was also working on a place to live that wouldn’t take all the Social Security payments I get each month.

Under Marshall’s guidance, as his home that was destroyed by sliding down a hillside after Hurricane Ivan, it has slowly been resurrected into a downstairs floor where I would have a room for as long as I needed it and an upstairs floor with 2 bedrooms, adjoining bathroom, kitchen and a living room. We collaborated on what to call the house and we came up with “Da Kindah” which means “One Family” which we have become as friends and is also what the Maroons call the great mango tree where Cudjoe assembled his people.

It is from this backdrop that I have purchased my ticket.

Beautiful.
I bet you have some excellent bonfire stories and teachings to tell.Hope to see you one day

I'm happy for you that you have and continue to recover to better health. I am even more happy for you that you get to return to Jamaica and your friends. Have fun.

As I said in another thread, I have enjoyed reading so many of your posts & I am overjoyed that you are going to be able to go back to the place you love so much. It takes so much will power to overcome being wheelchair bound to where you are now. God bless you for pressing on to get back to being able to walk again so you can go back to the island that captured your heart so many years ago. I am sure none of us know your struggles to getting to where you are today. Just know that Jamaica will welcome you back with open arms!!

hey bill
have a great trip . . . if in the same area, we can hook up . . . bill's stories are fabulous . . .

Thank you TiCtOc, Jeannieb, Blandy1 and Jitterbug.

I appreciate the good words of encouragement. I feel a little daunted by the prospects of walking on mountainsides but, at the same time, continue to feel I am ready to give it a try! My spirit is soaring today as Marshall called last night to tell me he has constructed some concrete steps from the road up to the house. A treacherous trek on a bauxite/clay hillside after even a light rain. :eek:

Jitterbug, you know how I truly respect how you flex. I have rarely met a fellow traveler over these years that can match your adventurous spirit and uncommon wisdom. You can bet that if we are near to one another; we will meet up again. Blandy1.. our paths may cross as well on this trip.

I will be flying on Caribbean Air and I just can't believe what I am able to take without paying extra! Two checked bags up to 50# each, a carry on bag up to 22#, a laptop bag and a walker too! I love the walker part as I can use it to get supplies up to the house like my own personal donkey cart! :p After 60+ trips you can bet there won't be an inch of unused space or a half pound to go wasted!

I have some incredible travel plans in the works while on the island and plan to take digital pictures, digital movie shorts and otherwise document to share some of these hidden gems. I will also be going to schools around the island and distributing soccer balls with Don Brideau of "Bounce Across Jamaica". http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bounce...a/269592098856
If you have never experienced this I highly recommend you give it a try. Few experiences over the years have given me the pure joy that doing this great service to Jamaica's youth can bring! Here is a short clip for those not familiar with Bounce Across Jamaica!

Peace and Guidance


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfIa3R487Mo