It was an ordinary day. Sitting on the beach watching this beautiful girl with a bright colored bikini walking along the edge of the water with the waves lapping at her feet. I needed a neat photo for my slide show that I make annually of my vacation trip and I said to my wife, while pointing at the girl, "Do you think that girl's husband would mind if I took her photo for the slide show?" My wife looked at me and said, "Probably not, but I might." End of that! Well, it wasn't long after that I had the opportunity to talk with her and her husband as I passed their chairs on my way back to mine from taking a dip in the warm Caribbean waters. They both had great stories to tell about themsleves and I knew right then that I needed to make her my first female "Faces of Strangers" story. Great couple from neighboring New York State. We talked for some time and then Anita said something about her 25 year-old child. I looked at her and said, "You can't possibly have a child 25 years old." Her face lit up with that comment and our conversation continued. Eventually I made my way back to my chair for my afternoon nap under the coral-colored umbrella. A few days later I saw Anita on the beach and asked if her husband was going to join her soon. Explained that I wanted to write a story about him for my blog, since I had never met a Native American. She told me he was up at their room checking the emails and would be down shortly. Then she told me that it was their last day on the island. I told her I didn't want to take up her time as well as her husbands on their last day, but she was glad to talk with me until her husband arrived. My wife joined us as we talked about her life and travels. Anita was born in Guyana, moved to the USA and then to Venezuela. She met her husband, Al, who I wrote about a few days ago, while shopping in Macy's in New York City. Seems she was shopping with her girlfriend and this guy starting asking her questions. She was ignoring him and finally her girlfriend came to her aid. The girlfriend told her how good looking the guy was and she eventually gave him her number. Well, we knew how that turned out, since there both were sitting on the beach with us. Anita and Al have a home in Orlando, Florida, but have an apartment in NY, where they both work. Anita is the Director of Leasing at a luxury high rise in NYC. They have a daughter who lives next door to them in NY as well as two other children who live in Atlanta. Anita was telling me how much she enjoyed her trip to Provenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands, which is a British territory, and hated to leave. She told me she also loves Bermuda which is British and more developed that Provo. Costa Rico is another favorite because of their hospitality. There may be a trip to Honduras in the near future for her and her husband. She and her husband are anxious for the day when they can travel as my wife and I doing since my retirement 13 years ago. I told here her time will come soon enough and by then she may have seen a few more places and will be able to know better what is her favorite island. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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