In 1984 (I think), Jim and Shery came to visit us in the Bahamas. We were living on our 36’ sailboat, BLOWN AWAY. They flew in on a very small plane to a very small runway, not an airport, at Staniel Cay, Exuma, Bahamas. We picked them up and sailed north to one of our favorite, very remote, anchorages, Bell Island. (Today Aga Khan owns it. It is just south of Johnny Depp’s private island.) Just as we got on course and had the sails set, Jim got very excited over something he saw in the water. We said, “Yeah, Jim, we see lots of exciting stuff all the time.”” We slowly maneuvered over to see what he was talking about but it had disappeared. (When he got the film developed-yes, it used to take days-and we saw what he photographed, we were shocked to see a whale shark-something we had never seen and is rarely photographed!) We spent days in our beautiful anchorage, snorkeling, fishing, exploring, and bathing/cooking, using our boat supply of fresh water. Normally, for the 2 of us, we could make it at least 2 or 3 months on 100 gallons of water (our boat only held 100 gallons of fresh water). While we were trying to be gracious hosts, we did mention water conservation more than once. Jim, George, and I were using salt water for all of our needs with just a small amount of fresh water rinse. Shery had that long, thick beautiful head of hair that required a lot of water to wash. In preparation for her return flight, she wanted a really good shower. I told her I would turn on the boat hot water heater and she could take a real shower and use all of the water she needed. She said, “NO! I am a real trooper and I will use salt water like everyone else!” And she did. It was not a simple procedure, as we used 5 gallon buckets of salt water and poured it over her, her screams were fairly softly uttered-it would have been a lot easier just to step in the shower below deck. Her “real trooper” description stuck with us. We still quote her expression when we conquer a difficult task always thinking of Shery’s determination and ability to conquer. When Shery made up her mind she was going to do something, she did it. I can still see her smile when we told her we were real troopers just like her on many occasions in later years.
Today is her birthday. I just had mine a few days ago. She never let me forget I am older than her. We always shared birthday wishes; it gave her an opportunity to rub it in. I so miss her. Know that she loves you so much and her spirit is with you in all that you do. Emily and Rob-you are real troopers, just like your mother!
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