My wife and I first ventured to JA in 2004 for a one week trip. It was our first trip out of the country.
It was also our 20th anniversary so we felt justified leaving our two children home with relatives.
We stayed at Samsara and went the AI route, which would be the last time we went AI. Like most everyone on this board we fell in love with JA.
Almost as soon as we arrived home we started planning our 2005 trip. This trip included friends and we stayed at Xtabi for one week.
For our 2006 trip we felt we wanted to bring the kids and let them experience the island.This trip we stayed on the beach at Chippewa Village for a week. The beach seemed like a better fit for kids and they had a great time. They still talk about the callaloo cheese melts at Irie on the Beach.
2007 we headed back to Xtabi just my wife and I again had the time of our lives. I can't say enough good things about Xtabi…the staff, the food and the sunsets.
Well, now we were done with trips at least for awhile as we have a daughter graduating soon plus house expenses such as a new roof, new siding, etc…
After things started to settle down (or so we thought) we started planning our trip back to paradise for 2010to celebrate our 26th anniversary. This time it was back to Xtabi, just the two of us but this time it was to be for two glorious weeks.
This is where things get difficult. Something changed with our youngest child of 15..I don't exactly know what happened and will probably never know, but without warning he became very depressed. There were no warning signs no acting out, until one day he just exploded. He ran away, the police were involved, he ended up in a facility for 10 days,out for awhile then back in. While he was in treatment, many other
things surfaced to which I will not go into detail. It was like a living nightmare that we just couldn't wake up from. I'm sure it wasn't pleasant for him either. We kept thinking things would get better soon and we
would still be able to make our trip. We were just kidding ourselves and we knew we had to cancel. As hard as it was we only have one son and we couldn't leave the country as he was in need of our support even though at the time he basically hated us, and life. It was the start of the hardest, most grueling 2 1/2 years of our lives.
Fast forward to present. His medications seem to be where they need to be. He has been going to school full days all year and is on track to graduate this spring! He just got his drivers license and has semi normal friends and doesn't hate his parents or life anymore (for the most part any way, he is almost 18).
My wife was a little hesitant to plan a trip so far in advance and I must admit I was also but….
WE HAVE JUST BOOKED FOR TWO WEEKS AT XTABI IN FEB 2013 !!!!!
I would like to thank everyone for you trip reports that kept Jamaica alive in my heart over the past years. I plan on paying it forward when our time comes.
IRIE! *IG
