The "Faces of Strangers: #53" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Stopped for a parking ticket and parked the rental in the parking lot at Bobby's Marina which is near the cruise terminal in Philipsburg, Sint Maarten.  Our journey today is so we can walk both Front Street and the Boardwalk in Philipsburg to do a bit of shopping, take a few photos for my blog and have lunch at the Creperie on the Boardwalk.  As we exited the parking lot on foot and headed over the concrete bridge that crossed a small waterway, we saw one of our favorite souvenir shops in Philispburg.  Place is called "Grandma's Gift Shop" and features island art, pocketbooks, beach clothing, jewelry and the traditional trinkets you would find in just about every gift shop in Philipsburg.  

Kathy from "Grandma's Gift Shop.

As we entered we were met with the bright face of Kathy who has run the shop for over 20 years.  Carol and I got to know her in the early 2000s when we began to take yearly vacations to the island.  Seems like every year we would stop to see what is new and end up talking to her about life on the island.  Kathy lives with her husband in the small village known as Grand Case which is on the French side of the island, about a 20 minute drive from Philipsburg which is the Capital of the Dutch side of the island.  Every visit we make to the island we try to visit with Kathy and take in all the latest about the island.  Today she shared that her mother lived in Paris, France and a lengthy conversation followed about the near destruction of the Notre Dame Cathedral.  We talked about the money that has been pledged to rebuilt the Cathedral and she said it's too bad that it couldn't  have been pledged to help with the poor and homeless who roam the streets of Paris.  Kathy is a very warm and welcoming French woman who told us about her recovery from Hurricane Irma which struck the island in the fall of 2017.  She told us of all the items she had lost at her shop as well as the damage to her place in Grand Case.  As we stood by the doorway her four-legged friend "Zoe" entered the shop to give Kathy a kiss.  Zoe is a Golden Lab that loves to greet the shoppers at "Grandma's Gift Shop.  Carol and I selected a small island print by watercolorist Mouche, wished Kathy the best and headed back to our next shop.  We will visit next year, once again, with Kathy.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.