EDITOR’S
LETTER
Iwish this issue of our
magazine had 200 pages,
I really do.
It’s not like there have been any
issues (yet) when we didn’t know how
to fill our pages, but this issue could
have went on and on and it’s all
because of Irma. We didn’t want to add
more pictures of devastation, or of
people who had lost their property, no;
we wanted to do justice to the story of
the people who helped our neighboring
communities so much.
Sometimes it takes something bad to
remind us of just how good we have it.
A few days without power, a few without
water and a few more days without
Internet service, maybe a few downed
trees; those were the problems most of
us in this area faced after the storm that
started out as the biggest in the history
of the Atlantic Ocean. It was supposed
to come here, to our little barrier island.
It was supposed to destroy much of
what we love here. Instead it turned,
destroying other areas.
After Hurricane Irma passed people all over the island quietly started doing one of the things they do best,
which is helping people without a need for recognition or kudos. These people live among us and we see
them every day, and we usually don’t realize how much of an impact they are making on other people’s lives.
Many of them are listed in our story about islander generosity after Irma struck, but there are still others who
simply don’t want their names mentioned.
To those of you who work so hard to help so many, we thank you. You know who you are ... you are
superheroes. You are part of what makes our country so special, and our island so different.
It’s so easy to love this island when you know it well. Boca Grande is really about being part of a small town,
a place where each person matters. It’s a place where people band together – rich and not-so-rich – to make
sure people are taken care of, and a place where not even a moment’s hesitation is given when it comes to
helping a perfect stranger. Whether that means digging someone’s home out of a pile of debris or writing a
check to feed and clothe children, consider it done.
This Christmas and in the New Year I hope your blessings are so abundant you can’t count them all. I hope
you find your peace, I hope you find your happy place. I hope you take time to listen to someone whose point
of view you don’t understand, and I hope you find it in your heart to forgive someone who doesn’t deserve
it ... especially if it is yourself.
We are so blessed to have one another.
Take care of yourself, and each other.
10 GASPARILLA ISLAND November/December 2017
Marcy Shortuse
Editor-in-Chief