Neuroscience teaches us the wisdom of savoring moments of happiness, joy, awe, contentment, connection. When we pause for even just twenty seconds to immerse ourselves in these moments, our neural pathways strengthen in the areas that process these positive emotions. I opened this ‘long read’ in this morning’s Guardian email simply because it was news about the British Virgin Islands, a place that Auntie lived for almost a decade. I visited her there several times, which remain among the fondest and most vivid memories of my twenties. I was just skimming the article, nothing new here, political corruption runs rampant everywhere, even in paradise, when my eyes were arrested by this image, which I recognized instantly. It’s nearly the view from Auntie’s house. After a second I moved back to skimming the text, but then I thought better of it.

I returned to the image, made it full screen, and dove into the memories and feelings it evoked. I have swum in those waters, I thought. I learned to juggle standing on the end of a pier with exactly this view… I have skinny-dipped at night in those waters… an old pirate taught me to windsurf from a sailboat in that very bay… I’ve eaten the best key lime pie in the world at that restaurant right there…

I let the memories wash over me like warm Caribbean water. The details bloomed throughout the day and warmed my heart long after I’d closed the lid on the image. Strolling down the steep lane from the house wearing my first pareo with a hibiscus blossom in my hair, sunwarm breeze caressing shoulders, arms, legs, the feeling of freedom. The magic of snorkeling for the first time. Drinking too many rum and cokes with new friends and recklessly leaping off the dock laughing, splashing in moonlight. Waking the next morning to sunlight streaming in the open window and Auntie gently proffering a cool washcloth and no judgment. Soft sweet hours in her easy company, sailing to Virgin Gorda with her husband to swim in the Baths, driving the motorboat home from grocery shopping on Tortola, learning to cross the street on a hot day simply to walk on the shady side.

I didn’t dwell in the past all day in any melancholy way, but I let the lightness of those days lift me intermittently as each new memory arose, grateful for long ago tropical adventures, and the long gone beloveds who made them possible.