Carnival Love Story

ERIC AND I MET DURING THE TRINIDAD CARNIVAL PARTY AT BEACH HOUSE. I WAS INTRODUCED TO HIM BY A MUTUAL FRIEND OF OURS BY THE NAME OF CHANDI. A FEW THINGS THAT STOOD OUT TO ME WAS HIS MANNERISM, HOW HE KISSED EVERYONE, SAID HELLO, AND SMILED. I WAS DANCING THE NIGHT AWAY, AND HE CAME BEHIND ME FOR A DANCE. SINCE I HAD PEEPED HIM MANASSAS, I APPROVED AND DANCED WITH HIM. HE ASKED FOR MY CREDENTIALS, AND I WAS LIKE, MY WHAT!?! HE WAS LIKE CREDENTIALS, MAM…YOUR NUMBER? I WAS LIKE, OH. OK YES. I THOUGHT WHAT THIS MAN WANTED WITH MY LIFE WAS A ONE-NIGHT STAND… IT’S NOT HAPPENING! BUT HE CAUGHT ME BY SURPRISE, AND HE REACHED OUT EVERY DAY WHILE I WAS IN TRINIDAD AND EVEN ASKED TO PICK ME UP TO JOIN HIS PROMOTIONS BAND. I’M TALKING 15 PARTIES PREPAID; I COULDN’T FIT ANYTHING ELSE IN THE SCHEDULE.  I WAS IN TRINIDAD, LIVING MY BEST LIFE.

I’VE NEVER BEEN INTO MATERIALISTIC THINGS AND LIVE A VERY SIMPLE LIFESTYLE UNLESS IT INVOLVES FOOD. FURTHERMORE, I AM A FAIRLY PARTICULAR PERSON. A SWEET LIFE REVOLVES AROUND TRAVEL AND CREATING EVERLASTING MEMORIES. GROWING UP AS A CHILD, I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT THE DETAILS OF MY WEDDING. I KNEW I JUST WANTED IT TO BE AN UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE. BIG! PEOPLE COMING FROM THE SKY BIG! AS I GOT OLDER, MY APPRECIATION FOR JAMAICA DEEPENED, AND THEN COVID HIT US SUDDENLY AND REMINDED ME HOW MUCH SIMPLICITY IS A CORE TRAIT THAT LINGERS WITHIN ME. COVID APPEARED TO ME AS A CONSTANT REMINDER OF THE THINGS THAT MATTER, LIKE TIME AND FAMILY. WHILE BEING STUCK IN TRINIDAD DURING THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF THE PANDEMIC, I WAS REMINDED THAT EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE THROUGH UNITY. NO MATTER HOW LITTLE WE HAD, WE CONTINUOUSLY SHARED AMONGST OTHERS. IF OUR NEIGHBORS DIDN’T HAVE AS LONG AS WE HAD, THEY HAD. 2 MONTHS LATER, I FOUND OUT I HAD MY MIRACLE CHILD. DESPITE THE DESIRE FOR MY MOTHER’S PRESENCE, MY MOTHER IN LAW HELPED ME FILL THAT VOID. AS MY BODY WAS TRANSFORMING AND PREPARING TO BECOME A MOTHER, MY MOTHER IN LAW HELPED ME TRANSITION INTO THAT NEW PHASE OF LIFE.

TRAVELING TO TRINIDAD FOR CARNIVAL WAS ONE OF THE BEST DECISIONS I EVER MADE IN MY LIFE. I NEVER KNEW THAT TIME WOULD LEAD ME INTO FINDING MY HUSBAND.