KINDNESS remembering 2023 with gratitude and excitement for what is to come.

Gratitude

We had so many highs and so many lows this year it was hard to capture everything. For example, one of the greatest times for us, which wasn’t really captured on video, was the 2023 Annapolis Boat Show this fall. One of Dave’s bucket list items was to participate in the Cruisers Creating Content booth at the show, so we could encourage people like ourselves to get out on the water. As we were leaving Philadelphia to head south we realized we would be in the area about the time of the show. I took the opportunity to reach out to various fellow cruisers we had met who might know how to get in touch with the right people. Shout out to Jessica at MJ Sailing for connecting us with Jeff who runs the booth.

Although the booth itself was full with other much larger channels, we were able to participate in all the events for channels who create content. This was an amazing opportunity for us as we got to meet several more of the channels who inspired us to get out here, and look forward to having them over on our boat when we reconnect in the Bahamas and beyond. We also made new friendships with other channels we hadn’t followed because there is an automatic camaraderie amongst all sailors.

Lastly we were able to meet some people who are considering this lifestyle and encourage them with our experiences thus far. A win win. Huge shout out to Jeff, his team, and the sponsors who really make the Cruisers Creating Content booth an incredible experience for all who participate at the boat show.

Life Altering

Another surreal experience happened during our stop in Philadelphia, the city of Hope, to visit our dear friends, Chip and Ruby Mitchell. We had a wonderful meal together on the boat with much laughter and stories and remembering old times, relating like we had never been apart. Reminds me of the old children’s song: Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other is gold. A circle is round, it has no end. That’s how long I will be your friend…

After going to church(live not Zoom like we do so often on our boat), Chip took us on a very real tour of the true Philadelphia, not just the pretty parts or the famous entrance to the Museum of Art, aka the Rocky Steps; but North Philly where people have to pirate electricity or freeze. Followed by the Kensington open-air drug market. People line the street for miles shooting up in broad daylight(mind you this is 1:30 pm on a Sunday afternoon). It looks just like a zombie apocalypse. And it didn’t look like you would think, a majority of the addicts are white men and women, moms and husbands, young and old. The dealers are the middlemen, african american in white tank tops and black pants(a uniform to stand out). Everything happens out in the open in borad daylight. We saw a woman with blood gushing out of her head purposely heading in the opposite direction from the hospital to get help on the streets because if she went to the hospital she would have to get clean. These people have lost real hope. Their best life is their next high, where they enter a dream state of euphoria on the inside. However, on the outside they could be literally standing up hunched over in the middle of the street oblivious to anything really going on. Over 85% of the people addicted, got there because they had a medical procedure done. which required pain meds afterwards. This fact alone is scary because all of us at some point in time may need a medical procedure and there is no way of knowing beforehand if you may become the next victim.

The issue in Kensington is not the open-air drug market, that is a symptom of a bigger problem. Incarceration is not the solution it is just a band-aid. Treatment for the addictions is a better start, as no one wakes up one morning and says Today I want to be an opiate addict!

The Church of Christ in Philadelphia, has a benevolent arm that works in conjunction with the Mayor’s office and Temple university along with some other investors in order to help people recover. The program is rigorous, but has a very high success rate. Eventually getting people to a point where they can sustain a job and a home in which to live 💕. Bringing true Hope back to the community💕. We are forever changed by this experience, and grateful for Chip entrusting the story to us.