I got back to SXM about the second or third week of October when theyfirst were allowing incoming flights but you had to show you owned property on the island in order to get in. I was returning with a local friend from the French side who had come to New York for a few weeks to get away from the disaster on the island. As the plane got close to the island she asked me to take the window seat so that I could see what had thappened to the island I love. As we got close and I could see Mullet Bay my heart just broke and the tears started. I had never felt so sad as I did that day and the subsequent weeks that followed. So many people were living in unbelievable situations and yet they got up every morning, they went to work & they moved on. Most were just happy that they and their families survived and they were happily moving on. I have always been in awe of the fortitude that the people here showed after that storm.

For me the devastation was overwhelming and it was embarrassing to have island people comforting me and telling me it would be OK. What I saw in the people here just weeks after Luis was what firmly planted my heart on this island.

That day coming in on the plane with my friend was the most heartbroken I had ever been. We had a good visit while she was in New York and I took her to the twin towers (my one & only time there) where we took pictures on the roof. Ironically the next time I was that heartbroken and then some was arriving back in New York on September 16, 2001. I was due to get back to NY from SXM on September 12 but as we all know that didn't happen. Fortunately my island friend had wanted to see the towers and so I took her. She and I will forever share the pain and the sadness of those two horrible events.