The first time my husband Martin and I ever stepped foot in the Dominican Republic, we fell in love, as we had with one another so many years before, it was love at first sight. We loved the green of the palm trees, the warm tropical air, the music, merengue, bachata, and salsa, the people, everything about it made us feel alive and excited. Our love for the Island grew and grew, from our first visit in 2002, to buying our first condo in 2004, to the night of June 21rst 2009, the night of what is no to us, the famous Pinky Swear.
Every time we went to Cabarete, we left so sad, wishing we could live there, wondering why we were living a life in Halifax, that no longer was what we wanted, in many ways. All, we did was work, literally from dawn and way past dusk. On the rare afternoon off, we went skiing, I remember being so proud that I could get off the ski lift and talk on my cell phone to the Tennis Club, which we owned. Stress levels were through the roof, our sleep was suffering, but mostly, it just wasn’t what we wanted or how we wanted to be living. We would promise ourselves that we would move to Cabarete, but almost as soon as we landed back in Canada, our life would sweep us back up into the familiar routine, and we would think wistfully about Cabarete and wonder if it had all been a tropical fever kind of a dream.
But on the night of June 21, 2009, sitting at our favorite restaurant on the beach of Cabarete, something was different, I think we knew, before we knew it, that the change was coming. We linked pinky fingers and took rather solemnly the Pinky Swear, ” We Susy and Martin Giddy, will do everything in our power to follow our dream of moving to Cabarete, by October 21, 2009″. We don’t know what happens if you break a Pinky Swear, and we sure were not about to find out!
The next four months were a whirlwind. We hired a coach immediately upon our return, to help us accomplish our dream. The to-do list of practicalities, a business to be sold, the family house to be dealt with, finances to figure out was enormous and so were the emotions of letting go, not to mention a lifetime of stuff to sort through. Decisions, choices, determination, led us through the process.
On October 21, 2009, Martin, two kitty cats and I landed in Cabarete, to begin living our dream. We did it! We smiled, with our feet in the sand at the same restaurant, where we had made the Pinky Swear 4 months before. We are Home!
Susy Giddy is a Life Coach. One of her specialties is helping people make their Dreams come true! She can be reached at susy@cabaretelifecoaching.com