The Kids Are Alright

My mom asked her grandchildren to recreate the photo below, taken more than a decade ago during one of their St. Lucia summers. From left, the grands are 11, 7, 3, 9 and 9.

Here is the result, with the grands lined up in the same order as before and mostly mimicking the hand gestures. Their ages now, from left are 22, 18, 14, 20 and 20. They do look a little different, but not much.  Certainly the height order has shifted. You can see my mom on the right directing the shot.

The kids had a rather excellent time this week. Most are old enough to go off on their own, which they did, to the beach, to verandah bars at night, to clubs where there was salsa dancing. The youngest (in orange tank above) didn't participate in the night scene as she is still only 14. But during the day, she was fully in the mix, and the age difference between her and the older ones seems to be shrinking. My daughter took most of the photos here and my husband also took some. I mostly hung out at home with my mom. In days to come I'll probably prune the number of images, but for now, I'm having a hard time choosing my favorites, and since this is my blog, I don't have to.

My mom lives in a very happening area of St. Lucia, with a lot of hotels and restaurants and shops and beachfronts and nightlife right there along the strip. The young people took full advantage. My son is rocking a 'fro hawk these days. Looks kind of cool.

The crew also did a full day excursion to Soufriere, the volcano that is connected to a chain of other volcanoes in other islands. In fact the archipelago of islands that forms the Eastern Caribbean was formed from the lava buildup from erupting volcanoes, with the tips of those volcanoes rising above the sea and forming the necklace of islands. Anyway, in addition to visiting the volcano, they went ziplining, they swam under a waterfall, and then soaked in the warmth of mineral hot spring pools which are supposed to heal all manner of ailments. I was back at my mom's house meeting with her banker to take over her bills, and greeting a parade of visitors who came by to tell my mom goodbye. I'm glad the crew took so many photos. I sort of feel as if I was there with them after all.

This concludes the day's broadcast from Rodney Bay, St. Lucia, where memories for a lifetime were made.