I remember the beauty and the garbage; the baby Whale Shark and the stranger who appeared at 3:30 am when I opened my eyes to find him in our room.
I remember the Police coming and the Police Station we visited the next day.
I remember the orange and green Hummingbirds, the color of the water and the Butterflies.
Visual Journal Page with images and writing about our trip to Belize in 2010.
Out on a boat to see the Whale Sharks. Photo by Kathleen Foley.
Piles of garbage.
Baby Whale Shark.
No photos of the stranger. He took my camera along with some cash and Jayne’s laptop computer. He entered through the French Doors that were locked, but not secured to the frame of the door. He was able to enter quietly since he only had to gently push open the doors. The main casualty was my mental health. After experiencing a good deal of trauma healing from many neurofeedback treatments, I could barely function when I returned from this trip. Jayne on the other hand was largely ok in the aftermath. We have very different nervous systems. Her upset was mainly in those moments in time, especially when she realized that he had gotten into her bag by our bed while we had been sleeping. Writing this now, I can see why it has been so hard for me to write about my past.
Police Station in Placencia. We had been staying in a rental on the beach in nearby Seine Bight. Our daughter Emily and her girlfriend at the time, Kathleen were with us and stayed in an adjoining unit.
Cinnamon Hummingbird.
The Caribbean Sea.
Swallowtail Butterfly.
It turned out that there was no recourse for what had happened. A police report obtained after we returned home blamed us for not locking the door. We also discovered that the man who broke in might have been a relative of the one of the police officers. We got that information from a fisherman on the beach who was familiar with this serial thief. When it comes right down to it, I don’t miss my property as much as a significant lapse in the ability to enjoy my own life while I recovered. I hope one day that if someone wants something from me, that I will be free to give it as a gift rather than to have it taken from me.
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