My wife and I have vacationed on Little Gasparilla Island. It is probably our favorite place to get away in the State of Florida. It’s serene and beautiful, with a long stretch of sandy beach that, if you see three people in one day, its a crowded day at the beach. The fishing is great and there are no car or busses or tourist traps. Yet Little Gasparilla’s greatest asset is its people. The locals are incredibly friendly, kind and have a warmth that’s contagious. Tourists that vacation there, no matter where they are from, immediately transform into Little Gasparilla form.
Always friendly, always there with a “Good morning!” or “Good afternoon!” or “Would you like some iced tea?”
Needless to say, I was moved when I read the story of the Cubans that arrived on Little Gasparilla that Marc posted here. Their kindness and efforts to help the recent arrivals to this land of freedom is true to their nature and a heartwarming, beautiful thing.
I can imagine them calling each other, talking about the news of the arrivals and then going into action and to their kitchens and pantries and closets to gather up whatever they could to help these folks that risked who knows what to reach the shores of freedom.
There’s one picture in the linked piece at WND that, to me, says it all:
Just look at that golf cart full of food and necessities. (More food, Im sure, than these Cuban have ever seen in one place at one time.) What must these Cubans have thought, given that their entire lives theyve been indoctrinated into believing that Americans are evil incarnate, when they saw these folks coming together to help them? To give them food from their homes, clothes from their backs? When they lent them cellphones to call loved ones and gave their children toys? Is there a more beautiful way to say “Welcome to America. Welcome to the land of freedom.”?
God, I love this country.
One more reason to love America and what it stands for.