Remembering a Child on an Island

Walking in the island market at Madam Bernard on Ile-a-vache and this girl comes up to me, holds my hand and asks me will I take her home with me to my country. She has no one, she said. Only a grandmother. What do you say to that? One minute I am admiring the simplicity of the lives of the fishermen and their families, then she comes and holds my hand and I am reminded that it isn’t wealth or poverty that separates, at least not materially, it is what we have or lack in relationships that set us apart. No amount of poverty can diminish true companionship and being wanted, and no amount of wealth can fill the void of lacking relationships. How awful to be both materially poor and also without love.