“Life is beautiful  
because of the  
people we meet.”   
Simon Sinek

Another Sunday in Nassau. I attended the 11:00 a.m. Mass at Saint Francis Xavier Cathedral this morning. I’m glad I did. At the conclusion of the liturgy, a woman made an announcement thanking the volunteers who were outside the church to provide complimentary snacks for churchgoers. She thanked them by name, reading off a list of about a dozen women. One name caught my attention.

Myra Mitchell is one of the students I taught at Saint Augustine’s College fifty-one years ago. When I heard the name mentioned, I wondered if it might be the same Myra. When I exited the church, I approached the woman who had made the announcement and asked her if she would point out Myra. She led me to a table on the other side of the plaza and called her by name, telling her someone wanted to see her. Myra looked at me and her face lit up. She ran around the end of the table and gave me a long hug. We had not seen each other since June 1975. 

Myra then surprised me by introducing me to eight other former students who had attended the Mass. 

“Mr. Carroll, do you remember me?” another woman asked. “I’m Leonardette.”

“Ross?” I replied. 

“YES!” she shouted enthusiastically. Another long, tight hug. Like Myra, I had not seen Leonardette in more than fifty years. 

In my book, A Bahamian Odyssey, I mentioned Cedrick Poitier, nephew of renowned actor Sidney Poitier. This morning, I met his brother, Bruno. I didn’t teach Bruno, but he remembered me, as he was a SAC student at that time, as well.

This is how my day got started. After Mass, I walked down to the British Colonial Hotel to enjoy lunch at their poolside restaurant, which offers a view of Nassau harbor. While there, I met people from a variety of places, including David, who told me he was from Kingston, Jamaica. He was a bit surprised when I asked him where he attended high school. He replied, “Campion.”

“I’ve been there!” I told him. “It’s a Jesuit school.”

David was shocked. “Yes, it is. How do you know about Campion?”

I explained that in the summer of 1971, I had visited Jamaica for six weeks with one of my Jesuit teachers from San Francisco and one of my high school classmates. On July 31, 1971, the feast of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit Order, we attended a celebration of the feast at the Jesuit residence at Campion College. I explained that we were in Jamaica to teach and learn contemporary music for youth liturgies. I told him that a young Jesuit priest, Father Richard Ho Lung, who had been ordained one month prior to our arrival, had written a number of liturgical songs for youth liturgies. 

“I knew Father Richard!” David replied. 

Yet another “small world” experience. This is why I enjoy striking up conversations with people I meet. We just never know when we’ll find ourselves sitting next to someone with whom we have a mutual acquaintance.