It was the start of a new relationship with the “Evil Svengali”; winter of 2016 we decided to ditch the cold weather and head to the beautiful “No Problem Man” island; Jamaica.
From the moment we landed it was simply paradise; that warm tropical breeze gently brushing against you in the Jamaican heat and the sun kissing your face as a welcoming “Hello”.
Ahhhh relaxation……so I thought.....
We were shown to our room, immediately got into our swim gear, locked up our valuables in the room safe and headed towards what literally was a stone’s throw away to this magnificent, powder white sanded shoreline.
I was awestruck; Montego Bay, the sun glistened upon the most pristine, calmest (I’m a Jersey Girl – Atlantic ocean is usually a bit tumultuous) crystal blue-green waters I had ever gazed upon hypnotically luring you in to engulf you.(mind you, I do not travel much, so this was some experience).
We were splashing around having fun; I coquettishly swam away and said “Catch me…”
Up for the challenge; trying with no luck to catch me, as he dove in towards me and threw his arm, the key to the safe, which he thought was securely snug on his wrist, flung across the ocean!
He went BALLISTIC!
Now remember… this was the start of a new relationship. I did not know then; about the man I later nicknamed the “Evil Svengali” in which much to my demise; discovered way too late in the relationship. (I will one day elaborate however; not yet prepared to open that combat injury).
We searched frantically in the water; there were people everywhere and all around us. As crystal clear the water was, the sand underneath everyone’s feet clouded the water by their movement.
After we searched for about an hour and he was PISSED beyond recognition, we went to the concierge desk to try and get a locksmith to come and open the safe.
Mind you we were in Jamaica…..vacation mode …..
”No Problem Man” We were instructed to wait for a phone call to our room once the front desk got a hold of the locksmith. We waited and waited for hours ......
Not fun when you think you are on vacation and the other half of your party is fuming, screaming (like a child who couldn’t get the toy he wanted at Toys R Us) on DAY ONE of 7!
At the time I was working in a Home Furnishings Fabric conglomerate in Manhattan; myself and 4 other ladies sat in a cubical consisting of 5 desks. The ladies were amazing and we had a lot of fun working there. Now, I always have been a little scatterbrained; losing keys, misplacing things etc. etc. I was working on a project for my boss one day and I misplaced one of the most important pages of the report. I looked high and low but couldn’t find it……one of my colleagues asked if I needed help and I explained how I lost the page…she quietly told me “now don’t laugh, do this when you lose something; take in a big breathe for a moment and say Jesus was lost and found” ….
To this day whenever I lose something, sure as there is air to breathe, the moment I pray this simple phrase; I ALWAYS find what it was I was looking for; believe you me I look up to the Heavens and say THANK YOU JESUS and also to my colleague who showed me the way.
I have since instilled this prayer into my children’s mindset and to whomever I encounter losing something at one time or another.
Next time you happen to lose something....Try it! You will thank me...It works every time l PROMISE!
It was about 6 pm, still no call from the front desk. I had enough of sitting there listening to whom I perceived at this point to be a big, brooding, brat who clearly cracked while under pressure (First of many signs of what I should have paid attention to).
I told him; quite confidently I might add…”I’m going to the beach to find the key.” He snarked back at me saying “HAH impossible, you’re nuts, in that big wide ocean while the sun was soon to be setting, I highly doubt it."
I turned to him and said “my name is Noritza and you just don’t know who I AM yet….”
Out the door I went..
The afternoon was still beautiful. The sun definitely setting as it appeared lying low on the ocean horizon and the beach now seemingly empty.
I started scouting the approximate spot of where we were playing in the now clear water; wading in solitude I looked up to the Heavens…took a deep breath and whispered out loud to myself…
"Jesus was lost and found…”
I kept praying and kept telling myself “if my name isn’t Noritza …I’m going to find the key!”
It was a matter of principle now ….to this day....I do not fare very well when someone tells me I can’t…. It motivated me more to show I CAN!
Twenty minutes passed and the day grew a bit darker ….to the right of me, I spotted on the floor of the ocean what appeared to be? maybe? might be? no way possible, probably a rock, kind of "something" through the last bit of sun diffusing through the water….
I started making a B-line through the water as my heart was racing, wondering YES! my “Jesus was lost and found” prayer was working. Hallelujah!
Wouldn’t you know it; like a record scratching in a song during the climactic part of a movie; when something good was about to happen and all of a sudden it flops; a lady appeared out of nowhere in an ocean; where she could have stood anywhere; of which I thought I was all alone in, walked right towards the “something” I was about to dive in for!
Sun rapidly setting, my stomach in a knot I did not want to be rude, or stalkerish… everyone is entitled to bathe in the ocean… so I patiently waded (no pun intended); not too far off from where she was standing and hoped that the “something” did not disappear into the darkness of the sea as the sunset has almost completely subsided by now.
Finally the lady walked out of the water….I moved swiftly towards the “something” as I reached down to feel the ground…my heart pounding….guess what I had in my hand???? THE KEY!!!
I ran frantically out of the water hysterically laughing out loud to myself…”Yes! Yes! Yes! THANK YOU JESUS!”
The lady who was wading in the water was now sitting on her beach towel (mind you no one else was on the beach at the time)…..as I ran past her….she looked at me and asked if I was ok…because honestly I was simultaneously crying/ laughing from the profoundly powerful force of Divine intervention I had just experienced. Out of breath I showed her what I had in my hand and said "I found my key!!!
As I was running back to our room (we had a beach front view) I saw the “Evil Svengali” leaning on the balcony railing……sarcastically laughed at me and said “No luck huh?"
I lifted my arm to show him the dangling key in my hand….and screamed up to him laughing, “In your face Buddy” his mouth dropped in disbelief…..”NO F’ing Way!”
Internally I was fuming; teetering in my mind, what was it exactly that I was angry about? the fact that his doubtful retort was utterly obnoxious and sarcastic? or; was this how he was going to handle things when the going got a bit rough… only time would tell…(oh how I wished I had had the hindsight back then to RUN… not for the key…. but run for my life.)
By the way….to this day….I truly believe that the lady who walked beside me; who brushed by the “something” in the water…..and who asked if I was alright;
was actually an Angel who The Divine sent from Heaven to help me find the
key in the sea.
Believe you can and YOU CAN
Sending Love and Light
