Black Pointe
Ambler Isle
V and S
Fri 4 Feb 2011 12:44
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24.06N
76.24W
At Black Point, the motto is "Get to the Point, Stick to
the Point."
Sadly, the island kids go to high school in Nassau and
never return. The island school has 5 Guinean teachers; the clinic employs
a Jamaican nurse. But the settlement is delightful. We landed the
dinghy at the dock, climbing a very high ladder due to low tide. We tucked
a fancy 2 pound tin of chocolate covered cookies under our arm and headed
for the straw lady Miss Eunice's old green house. The doors were
open, a good sign. But when I knocked, a man's voice said,"
Hello?" I asked if Miss Eunice was home. "No", he said, "She
died." Hearing my gasp of dismay, he asked us to wait a moment and
he'd be out. He was her son, Burklie, and he came out with a beautiful
memorial booklet from her funeral. We visited with Burkie a
while, reminiscing about our first meeting with her. Seeing her work in
low light and very close up, we brought her reading glasses. She
was so excited; now she could read her Bible. Darting inside her
little house, she emerged with a beautiful straw handbag. But when
Valt refused her gift, she carefully removed the glasses, saying if we could not
accept her gift, she could not accept ours. Of course, we cherish the bag
to this day. Another visit we watched her remove the light bulb from her
front porch socket and take it inside. She had only the one good bulb and
moved it back and forth. Next visit we brought a pack of light
bulbs. She always dropped whatever she was doing to chat. I
know she met many cruisers, but she remembered us from season to
season. Burkie showed us commendations she'd received from Queen Elizabeth
for community service among others. Her grandson just
graduated with a 6 year degree from a college in New York for law
enforcement. She left a good line. I was sad she was gone, but
she'd lived 94 good years. She simply died of old age, never sick.
Burkie turned out to be a retired Chief of Police from Nassau. He was
building a house next door, and planned to move his family back to the
island. We exchanged numbers, and gave his Miss
Eunice's chocolates. We thought she'd approve.
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