Soulful Greetings
My heart is heavy and I am in disbelief at the loss of a beloved island that changed my life and its direction, forever.
I cannot yet wrap my mind around the concept that something like this could happen and yet it has.
Hurricane Dorian, a Cat 5 has swept away and devastated an island that meant so much to me and my family. It has torn apart the lives of those in the Abaco’s and throughout the Bahamas.
Hope Town is just an island, but to me it was my paradise island, historically quaint, simply beautiful and colorfully charming.
A magical island I went to for solace, healing and soul searching, a home I loved and lived in at a crucial time in my life, a place I will always cherish for the remarkable experiences shared with family and friends throughout many wonderful years.
I am so grateful for the adventures and our family’s connection with this little island, yet I shudder to comprehend that all we have left there are memories.
My heart goes out to the genuine and good-hearted people of Hope Town, Abaco and all the Bahamas islands impacted by this devasting hurricane.
Founded in 1785 in part by a widow from South Carolina, Wyannie Malone. It is home to the famous red and white candy-striped Elbow Reef Lighthouse. It is one of the last manual lighthouses in the world. Visitors would climb the 100+ steps to the top just for the breathtaking panoramic view.
I can still recall my late, daughter Crystal excitedly playing on the beach in our backyard as a pre-teen while enjoying the freedom from the heaviness of our real life.
I remember my son, Clayton enjoying the island life boating and snorkeling.
I look back on fond times of island hopping, cooking and being entertained by the late, Maitland Lowe aka Bonefish Dundee, a local legend that my dad adored like a son. Last year, after his passing my husband and I met Maitland’s loving wife, Mercedes for the first time.
In the last years of my dad’s life, I spent all the time I could with him in Hope Town and in Lighthouse Point, Florida. On one particular occasion, I had the opportunity to comfort him while we walked the beach behind his home as he shed long-held tears over the loss of his father and best friend some fifteen years prior.
While at a wedding for the Lowe’s with my dad and step-mom I was introduced to a long-time Hope Town resident and friend of theirs who I would later thank for saving my life. I was emotionally and physically unable to go on with life as I knew it and this relationship while it lasted offered a restorative re-boot to my tattered spirit.
Four years later, I returned to Hope Town to visit my dad and step-mom and share this paradise with my then-boyfriend who proposed to me at dinner at Rudy’s Place with my family. This year we will celebrate 22 adventurous years of marriage.
When my dad passed away and three years later my step-mom, we returned to Hope Town with my brothers, Frankie & Jeff and their families for each of their celebrations of life.
There was a burial at sea and two markers at the beachside cemetery that I would tend to on our visits. Even our friends Kelly & Jill, from Crested Butte would place flowers there when visiting.
Last year, along with my husband, Bob, brother, Frankie & Sister-in-Law, Karin we were able to connect with local long-time friends and enjoy all the beauty, ambiance, cuisine and love of this sweet island community that impacted our lives as the caring souls we’ve become.
We are grateful and encouraged by the many efforts beginning to take place in the way of rescues and assistance for the Bahamas Islands. If you can find a way I invite you to donate to one of the charities benefitting the Bahamian people at this time of need.
Love & Blessings from our family to the Abaco, Bahamas
Nancy Vernis Yuskaitis
Info & Resources for Hurricane Dorian Relief:
Hope Town Volunteer Fire Rescue
