“Behind every  
successful man
there is a woman.”   
Mark Twain

For the past three weeks, I have had the pleasure of meeting up with quite a few of my former students. The youngest of them are now 62 years of age. Doing the book signing events at the Logos Book Store on Saturday and at Saint Augustine’s College yesterday, enabled me to see even more. I had one unexpected visitor at Logos on Saturday — a woman I had not seen in more than fifty years.

Mrs. Floridell Adderley is the widow of Mr. Lou Adderley, to whom my book, A Bahamian Odyssey, is dedicated. I mentioned in my book, and in a previous blog post, that Mr. Adderley was a man of integrity. He was a scholar, athlete, leader, permanent deacon in the Catholic Church, and former Headmaster (principal) of Saint Augustine’s College. On a number of occasions back in the 1974-75 academic year, I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Adderley’s wife, Floridell. I remember her as being attractive, intelligent, and incredibly kind. These traits apply to her today (she’s in her mid-80’s) as much as they did fifty years ago.

Mrs. Adderley was accompanied by one of her daughters, Daria, who teaches at Saint Augustine’s College today. Their visit to Logos on Saturday was one of the highlights of this visit to Nassau. 

Today is my last full day on the island. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be here again, to see so many former students, colleagues, and friends I’ve met here through the years, to share my book with them. After a brief visit to SAC this morning, I’m looking forward to taking one last walk down Bay Street and along the promenade at Junkanoo Beach. I’ll probably stop at The Fish Fry this evening to enjoy one more Bahamian dinner — cracked conch with peas ’n rice. I’m not aware of anywhere in the San Francisco Bay Area where this menu is offered. 

As Thornton Wilder taught us, “We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasurers.”