On our recent family vacation to Cozumel, we stayed at a beautiful little guest house. It is in a lively residential / retail neighborhood. But once you unlock the front gate, you enter a tranquil courtyard with a pool and inviting lounge chairs and hammocks. The sounds of busy Cozumel fade into the background.
During our 7 night stay at Baldwin's Guest House, we met so many interesting people from around the world. We stayed up late many nights at the "Monkey Bar" by the pool enjoying learning about their lives.
We loved to hear our hostess Hannah tell about all the fascinating places she has lived like an Indian reservation in South Dakota, New York City, England and Italy - not to mention her tales of what it is really like running a bed and breakfast on an island.
We met a former ski racer from Vermont and her entrepreneur father who told us all about the booming craft beer industry there with some of the country's best IPAs (we are already thinking about a Vermont brewery tour!). We met a former professional New York City ballet dancer now living in Pennsylvania and heard her "stage stories." We got great tips for our time on the island from a retired Maryland couple who comes to Cozumel each winter for a month of diving. We met Megan, a professional dog groomer from Michigan who competes in grooming competitions all over the country. And we met Leslie, a fascinating man from Florida who shared about his long career managing warehouses for the garment industry. We had differing views on fair trade practices but I appreciated his honest stories about the working conditions of factories he had visited in places like Bangladesh.
One family we encountered during our week really impacted me - a sweet family from Australia who had never planned on an extended stay at the guest house. Casey and Greg have five children and very busy lives in Melbourne. Their middle child, Kai lives with a lot of health problems and after a stressful year of tests and doctor's visits, this family needed a break. Casey and Greg booked a "dream vacation" to Florida that would start with a Disney cruise. They were taking their three youngest children (all boys between the ages of 8 and 17). This trip was their way of trying to create a brighter and more hopeful year in 2019.
On the first day of their much-anticipated cruise, Kai got sick. The ship doctors determined the family should abort their cruise and Kai was checked into the hospital in Cozumel. The hospital that has contracts with all the cruise lines is less than two blocks from Baldwin's. The Australians soon traded their ship cabin for a casita on the property. Bereket was happy to see another child and began playing hide and seek with the family's youngest son, Owen.
Kai was discharged after a couple of days and joined us at the guest house, but the disappointment over a ruined dream vacation was about to turn into overwhelming stress. The family had very carefully purchased travel insurance for their trip, including a special policy to cover their son. But because of pre-existing health conditions, the insurance company was refusing to pay the $100,000 hospital bill. The family would not be allowed to leave the island until they came up with the money.
We prayed for the family a lot and checked in with them for any updates. We bought them a gift at a nearby chocolate factory we visited (chocolate therapy). They were in my mind and heart constantly. I asked people at my church to pray for them.
Then came the good news that the insurance company was going to reverse their decision and pay the bill, but the family would need to leave the island immediately. The exhausted parents were not ready for the big journey ahead but got on the phone with their travel agent. Eventually, the insurance company granted them a few days in Florida for rest before the long plane rides home.
On their last night, we knocked on the door of the family's casita with a small bottle of sparkling wine in hand. Greg said they had something better and pulled a larger bottle of more expensive champagne out of their fridge. They had ordered it from Disney as part of a special welcome amenity for their cruise. We all went to the Monkey Bar and I found Hannah to come celebrate with us. For an hour, we were all just on a normal vacation, laughing and sharing life stories...enjoying the special gift of new friendships that never would have been possible without travel.
The next morning, we knocked on our new friends' door and said goodbye. We exchanged hugs and email addresses. I will check in with them next week to see how their journey home was.
The Australians weren't alone in having disrupted cruise vacations. Our new friends Leslie from Florida and Megan from Michigan were also staying at Baldwin's because they had loved ones in the hospital following cruise ship illnesses. They were navigating life's unexpected challenges in a place they had never planned on staying.
I am so thankful for these new friends and the stories they shared. I will never forget Casey and Greg and their courage. They were determined to make "lemonade" out of the few days in Florida they were granted before heading home (out of the month-long journey they had planned).
The most carefully made plans can crumble at the most disappointing of times. Our new friends showed incredible grace under such circumstances. I am grateful for the opportunity to learn from their example.
