“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
