We sat down for lunch with such an incredible collective of individuals from all over the country. As I awaited to receive what turned out to be some of the most heavenly food I've ever experienced, I became enthralled by the story being shared by an Abaco local, Trevor.
Trevor has one of those personalities that absolutely fills a room. He's truly an expert in his field of being a boat pilot and he knows EVERYONE on the islands. There was a lot of conversations moving at that table, and I leaned as he began to share his hurricane story with me.
He spoke of the pure fear and terror that ensued, the loud winds, crashes and sounds of destruction. At one point he decided to surrender and let God take over. He spoke of an indescribable peace that washed over him as he and a friend hunkered down in a bathroom for over 15 hours, "every minute feeling as though it could be the last". When Dorian finally moved away from the island, nearly everything had been destroyed.
The following year proved to be one of adding insult to injury as COVID made its appearance. Trevor went on to explain that everything that happens in the U.S. has a direct impact on the Bahamas. So as we began to experience massive shortages from COVID, Abaco felt the shortages as well as having little to no explanation of what was happening because so many towers had been lost in the storm.
He said he was faced with a choice. Either move to the states and leave all of the destruction behind, move on with his life and start over...or stay and rebuild. He chose to stay. He chose to help rebuild, to clean up and stay "home" in the Abacos.
Trevor has been able to create his own success as a boat pilot as well as running construction crews on the island. He rose up into a leadership and entrepreneurial role. He left us with some cool memories and these words that will stay with me indefinitely..."Dorian pulled something out of me that I didn't know was there."
We'll be back Trevor, save a boat ride for us!
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