I’m getting on a plane on April 7th for a much needed vacation. Jamaica bound and ready to relax. I’ve never been to Jamaica but I’ve heard it’s beautiful. I’ve travelled a lot. I worked in tourism for 10 years living throughout Mexico and the Dominican Republic. I have always loved to escape, lay on the beach but even more to surround myself in the culture and landscape of a foreign land. I’ve been lucky to travel throughout most of the Caribbean including Cuba but Jamaica is a place I hadn’t thought of until just a few weeks ago. My two best friends Tanya and Nancy were over having dinner and after a little bit of wine we decided that a vacation was needed! We had a good reason too – our 30 plus years of friendship. Well that’s certainly something to celebrate! I guess for me it was twofold. April 11th will mark the 10 year anniversary of my sister Erin’s suicide and I guess a reason maybe even more of an excuse for me to escape.
The last trip I took to the Caribbean was with Erin. I’ll never forget the call – I was running the Erin Rothwell store while she and her husband Richard were vacationing in St. Lucia for 2 weeks. It was actually Richard who called and said how would you like to come to St. Lucia and spend the second week with your sister? Say what?! One of his Ad campaigns had just been put on fast forward and he had no choice but to return and get the job done. I remember waving to him through the glass partition of arrivals / departures at the St. Lucia airport while he mouthed the words have fun… Oh if only knew! Erin and I together in a tropical climate (anywhere) for that matter equaled fun. There she was – tanned, beautiful, glowing really and smiling waiting to embrace me as always. She had the cab waiting “hurry let’s go paradise is waiting!” As we traveled at top speed through the lush and mountainous landscape she began to describe Ladera. “I don’t want to ruin the surprise – you just have to see it for yourself”.
Ladera is located on the southern end of Saint Lucia, just outside the port town of Soufrière, approximately 40 minutes from Hewanorra International Airport. It sits on a forested ridge at 1,100 feet overlooking the volcanic Piton Mountains and the Caribbean Sea. Ladera (a view with a room) is a small resort with private villas and an ultimate rainforest open-air hideaway. When we pulled up to the resort I thought I was in a dream! Erin was so excited to show me around “wait till you see our villa – its two bedrooms with our own plunge pool, it’s like our own private tree house”! She was so happy, so full of life and completely unpretentious. She wanted you to see what she saw and she saw beauty in everything and everyone. I was still trying to get over learning that both Oprah Winfrey and Harrison Ford had stayed at Ladera – oh my goodness!
Calm eventually returned and we began our vacation our journey – sisters, two soul mates and the unconditional bond that we’d shared our whole lives ever present and everlasting.
