This has been a super trying and difficult few weeks with hurricaneS, a wedding, and 25 family and friends. However, I would like to preface this with the fact that I am not a writer, nor do I pretend to be. I am just a girl telling my story.

I don’t even know where to begin. If you have read my previous posts you know that I am a physical therapist living on the island of St Croix, planning a wedding to my best friend, Blake.

Bear with me as a backtrack a few weeks….September 5th, our sister islands, St Thomas and St John were devastated by Hurricane Irma. we did not know why or how, but St Croix was spared the devastation. Even though we did not get as damaged or destroyed from Irma, we still had some difficulties resulting from her. Blake and I did not have power from September 5th until September 17th. During which time we slept on couches to be near the door to get some air flow, showered in buckets, made any and all food on the grill. Yes we had a roof to live under, but life was far from easy.

The light at the end of the Irma tunnel was the fact that September 16 was the start of the much awaited “wedding week” . September 16 we slept in a king sized bed, September 16th we slept with air conditioning, September 16th  we took showers and didn’t worry about running down the generator. September 16th we thought our problems were over and our biggest worry was how we were going to get all the family from the airport.

We did get all family members from the airport to Carambola Resort on North shore where all the family was staying to celebrate the unity of Blerin.

As soon I returned from my last run of guests back to the report, I find my fiancé at the bar and this is when I learn the Maria has turned into a Tropical Storm. The ever optimist in me says “Tropical storm, we can do, tropical storm may get us wet, but it won’t stop our wedding”.
Maria gets pushed out of the mind and the two families get to enjoy a nice family dinner together…not knowing that this would be the only one of the week.

I did not sleep at all that night. I was monitoring Maria’s every move, hoping, praying, willing Maria to move from the current path of hitting St. Croix dead on.

September 17th makes its appearance and I start the day with a morning walk with my parents on the beach collecting seaglass. It was such a beautiful morning, exactly what I envisioned our first beach day with the family to look like.

I rush to get my suit on and get down to the beach to enjoy every minute of this gorgeous day, knowing in the back of my head that this may be it for the week.(Of course I am annoyed that my rhinestone bride bikini had not yet arrived in the mail…a detail that will seem minute in a few days).

I get a few games of paddle ball in with my mom, dad and siblings . A game that is a staple in all beach adventures with our Davidson family of 5. While playing a three way paddle ball game with  Colin and my dad, I get called over by a family congregation of girls. Among which is my grandma, mom, soon to be mother in law, and aunts from both sides.

During an intervention of sorts… the idea of moving the wedding to TOMORROW (September 18th) was presented to me.

TOMORROW? I did not mentally prepare for tomorrow. Tomorrow is not what I planned. Tomorrow is too soon!

Tomorrow it is.