St. Martin and Anguilla Pre Hurricane Irma

As many of you know, my family is from the Caribbean with the majority living in St. Martin and Anguilla.There have been plenty of articles in the international press, and videos, showing the complete devastation and aftermath. As of today, we're still waiting to hear about one of our relatives.  We are sick with worry but thankful that most of our friends and family are safe.  Many have lost their homes, or have sustained major damage, and the non-retired members, their jobs (for now).It may take up to three years for St. Martin to rebuild.  I haven't heard any estimates yet regarding Anguilla.I know these are tiny islands so no one really cares what happens to them.  I was speaking to a Hollywood exec friend of my mine whose parents are also from the Caribbean and she noted the overall silence from well known African-American celebrities, including the ones who are from the region (seriously?) and the ones have vacationed on the islands.Perhaps this will change in the coming days.    

Io Adoro - Anguilla, British West Indies

Anguilla is quite the A-list celebrity/VIP destination these days.  However, the small island has managed to retain it's relaxed, quiet charm.My most recent piece for FATHOM Magazine went live today. ANGUILLA – I wish I could say I have always appreciated this beautiful island. That would be untrue.When my family moved from New York City to the leafy suburbs of Verona, New Jersey, I knew I had to become a true American teenager. I was hampered by my parents' insistence on raising their children as if we were a family living in the Caribbean.My parents are from St. Martin (totally different from the Dutch side, St. Maarten) and both my grandmothers were Anguillian. Whenever we went to St. Martin to stay with my paternal grandparents, we ferried over to Anguilla to visit family and friends. When I was a child it, was fun to hang out with my cousins, go the beaches, and stuff ourselves on Johnnycakes, rice and peas, and salt fish cakes. But as for the stunning white beaches of the island, they were lost on me when I was older. I mean, I was a teenager. Visiting relative after relative while sitting on their verandas for hours drinking Ting was boring.The final anti-island straw happened one night when I was walking back to my aunt's house and a mongoose ran across my foot. I was done. I thought, "I could be chilling at the Short Hills Mall with my friends instead of being stuck on this tiny island."It wasn't until my parents moved to back to St. Martin after retirement and I moved to Rome that I began to understand why those trips back home were so important.To read the rest and see more pictures, click HERE.

The beach at Cap Juluca with the island of St. Martin/St. Maarten in the background.

Photo: Me and my iPHone