Today our friend Patrick, owner of the Grimal Grove, was kind enough to give us and two new friends a tour of the Grove. Since Irma, I've only been to the Grove once, and it was for just a few minutes.
Patrick has saved so many trees, planted new ones, and made incredible progress. There is a lot of optimism coming from Patrick with very good reason. I'm elated, and so impressed by what we saw today. The Grimal Grove has an incredible history. Patrick himself has sacrificed so much, too much, for this storied tropical fruit Grove. Listening to him speak today about the Grove made me very happy. His love of the land shines. He has such vision and passion for preservation of The Grove. It's the kind of caring that gives me hope in a sometimes hopeless world, a reminder to me that there are such good people in this world.
Patrick was one of the people who was in the shelter with us during the storm. He had his beautiful dog Bella with him. After we left the shelter, the plan was that he would come with us to Long Beach, back to the "safe house" we all had abandoned shortly before the storm hit. This was on the tail end of winds with the storm, we were still under a state of emergency. We were in the big truck, and Patrick would be soon to follow after he dropped another mutual friend where he needed to go. The other happy vegan and I realized we were not going to be able to get all the way back down Long Beach, the surge was still up. We backed up, got on the highway and waited at the crest of the bridge for Patrick. Once he met us on the bridge, we explained we cannot get through the road. He said he had a key to a friend's place on the island he could use in an emergency (I think this qualified as an emergency) so we followed him. All the road signs were gone, debris was everywhere, things looked so different. Once we got off the highway I had no clue really where we were. Remarkably his friend's place was intact. We went inside, settled the animals as best as possible and began to explore.
I walked out the back door and over a downed fence in shock, not being able to yet absorb the enormity of the situation. I still did not know where I was. After a few minutes, Patrick came up to me. We were all pretty messed up to say the least. It became evident to him I didn't know where I was. It was then he told me we were standing in the Grove. It was a very sobering moment.
Today we went to the Grove, and saw all the progress that's been made, the new plantings, the saved trees, the butterflies, the lizards, the fresh and hopeful life that surrounded me at every turn. It was magnificent to be there. I decided to step aside for a moment and walk to a spot for this:
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| Me
This one picture here doesn't look like much does it? Bananas. Ok.... bananas, sure. But this is the spot I was standing when Patrick clarified for me where I was... that I was standing in the Grove I no longer recognized. Those bananas are growing right where I experienced one of the worst moments from the storm; the place where my heart officially started to rip out as I only just began to realize life was forever changed for me and so many others. The bananas are the same. I stood on their space, in their home. The bananas seem to have said "oh crap, this sucks, we're gonna cry as long as we want, now go and leave us alone because we're not going to banana anymore." Eventually, one day they decided they're done crying and whispered "psst... over here.... we're coming back.... have a gentle heart and hand with us, we want to banana again." Under extreme conditions, they came back to life. They were pushed to their limits, and tested daily. Under unimaginable circumstances, they are banana-ing again.... being their best banana self in the same spot that tried to kill them. They represent a lot to me. They really are not "just" bananas. They are me.
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