Days Go By

Looking backward can help us move forward

by Kelly O'Brien 

The turn of the year is always a time for evaluating what's come before and planning for what's up ahead. On a larger scale, that same sort of evaluation can be useful in helping us understand how we've changed and what we've learned, in the decades we've been alive. We thought it would be interesting to get a sense of what some of our community members have learned, these last few decades. We hope the insights they've gained will either be helpful in your lives, or at least inspire you to think about the things experience has taught you.

Kim Scatliffe, age 49

20s - I was getting my kids at that age, and first of all, I just wanted to give God thanks because he's the one that helped me with them when they were growing up. My 20s made me a stronger woman because I was the only one taking care of them. I didn't have any support from their dad. I learned that when you're put in a situation, you have to do what you have to do, no matter what.

40s - Now that I'm in my 40s, I don't take things for granted anymore. I realize that there's a greater force that's out there, doing a lot of things that aren't good, and people are falling prey to it. I continue to put my faith and my trust in God. He will continue to guide me and keep me.

Looking back, there are certain things I would change, but you don't go back and change things, but you can make a difference now for somebody else. You're older now, and you're more experienced. Now, you've been there. You know.

Brion Morrisette, age 53

20s - My 20s were very productive for me because I not only obtained [two degrees], but during that same time I also was devoting myself very intensively to sports. I competed and won a bronze medal in the Pan American Games in the pole-vault and competed in two Olympics in the pole vault, as well.

I began to first engage in the lifelong challenge of balancing personal growth and spiritual growth with physical growth and maintenance, and that's something I began to realize was necessary in my 20s and have tried to build on ever since.

Sometimes when I have doubts now as to what I'm doing, I intentionally cast my mind back to what I was doing in my 20s and I find a lot of truth and validity and reassurance from that time.

50s - In your 50s it becomes undeniable that you're looking middle-age squarely in the eye. Many things tell you that - most notably your body, every single day.

With proper diet and exercise and maintenance, I don't see any reason why your 50s and 60s and even into the 70s cannot be greatly enjoyed, with all the same activities. I certainly have no plans to cut back on anything I'm doing. But I think you can savor and appreciate everything more - the same way that you can appreciate health more, after having been ill. I think at this point in your life, while realizing that your time here is more finite, you can savor and appreciate it all the more because of that.

Julietta Masson, age 50("ish," she says)

20s - I don't think I really learned that much because at 20 you are all over the place, but what I think it did was point me to the direction I was going to take in life. My first job, at 19, was at Trunk Bay. With that, I just got this love, I'm a people person and I just realized, Girl, this is what you need to do. From there, I've always had this feeling to do some kind of work in the hospitality field or something like that, and I've stayed with it ‘til now.

30s - Hmm...crazy 30s. It's like having your dreams, trying to get it together, but it don't really work because I'm looking towards my future and my career. And then you have the kids there that you have to take care of and provide for, so I kind of lose myself to the kids. They were first and always first.

40s - They say life begins after 40, right, and I think it's true because by then you know who you are, what you want, where you're going. Maybe how to get it has not really come clear, but at least you have that vision, you know.

Hermon Alfredo Smith, age 63

30s - I guess my 30s taught me how to be self-sufficient; that's a strange thing, huh?

I tried fishing, which is what my father did, and I was a complete failure at it. Y'know because there's so much to it. You gotta learn the tides and such.... Your heart has to be in whatever you do is what I learned, I guess.

50s - In my 50s I had a really hard time. I got in trouble with the police [...] I got hit in the head, and I literally don't remember a lot of things.

I quit drinking. I think that's one thing I learned that I had to do. I'd drank most of my life away by that point, and the hit on the head was not a good thing, but it kind of woke me up - it knocked me out and woke me up. Let me know what my priorities were, and one was that I wanted to be alive.

60s - I see the Grim Reaper. [laughs] Well, I see a chance to pass on what I know. And I'm happy to say I enjoy doing it.

Albion Sewer, age 62

20s - [I learned] that life had so many opportunities and roads to travel and exciting things to do that if one was energetic and inquisitive that it was hard to decide which road to travel and exactly what you wanted to accomplish and what you wanted to be.

And I think, coming from a small community or island like St. John, one was not exposed to an awful lot of opportunities. There were just limited things that you could get involved in. And if the things available [...] were not something you were interested in, then you were a little unsure as to what role or what direction you should travel, and I think that's where I was in my 20s.

30s - I was brought up very religiously - Sunday school, church choir, confirmation, the whole works, and truly believed in God and all the teachings of our Moravian Church, our religion.

How one loses the faith and respect for their religion because they have maybe become wiser and more worldly and see things through different eyes ... that might've been my greatest awakening. I mean I'm not an atheist or anything, not by a long shot, but it was quite a change for me, and as a result, I no longer go to church.

But, we'll go back sometimes - you want to teach your children to go to church and how important it is, religion in any form, because it teaches one to have faith and to believe, even if you're believing in yourself.

Governor John P. deJongh, Jr., age 52

For each of the last three decades (the '80s, '90s, '00s), what are the most important steps we've taken forward as a territory, and what events predicated them?

Each decade has been very transformative in its own way.

In the ‘80s, we were beginning to see a lot of economic development. The transformative event for the decade was definitely Hurricane Hugo, particularly with respect to the devastation on St. Croix, at a time when St. Croix was just beginning to grow. But the resulting investment in infrastructure began a process that led to figuring out how to finance our infrastructure, both in terms of the public and the private sector.

The ‘90s saw tremendous growth in the cruise ship industry, saw St. Thomas become one of the most popular ports in the Caribbean. It was a much more competitive time for us. Many Caribbean islands were making the switch from agriculture to tourism.

In the ‘00s there was much more of a focus beginning with respect to planning. Both the public and private sector started looking to the future.

If you are re-elected governor, what will your focus be for the territory's next decade? 

Technology, light manufacturing, tourism - those three areas will lead to a much more diverse economy, and this diversification is what will provide us with the resources to address quality of life issues here: healthcare, education, law enforcement - a wide range of social services. For too many years, we've had just a tourist economy, and it has not allowed us to diversify.

In the next decade, if we continue on the path we're going on, we'll also see a rebranding of the Virgin Islands as a tourist destination. With all 4 islands, we will continue to have a very competitive profile.

Also for each of the last three decades, nearly all of which you've spent in government, what lessons have you learned personally? 

One thing I've learned, in all my experience, is the importance of openness and transparency - people respond to that. They get a sense of you as a person and what you're trying to do, as a person.

Another thing I've learned is that people, both individually and collectively, just want times to be better. They want the change necessary to make their lives better. More than anything, they're looking for a leader that will do that.

January 2010