Help Rebuild Our Lives After Irma

Hey guys, this is Megan (their daughter) and I am helping them write this.

 

It all started 3 years ago, My mom had a dream my entire life of living on an island. Well, 3 years ago, it actually happened! My mom became an (amazing) business owner on the little island of St. Martin. It was tough, she was working ALL the time, but anybody who knew her, knew how much she loved it. Once my little brother finished school my dad went to join her. Their original goal was to cater to the tourists and local patrons on the island, but the students of AUC Medical College ended up being so much more than that to them. They became their island children. The students are what drove them, and they took pride in watching them all grow, and get closer and closer to achieving their dream. My mom ended up becoming much more than just a restaurant owner, she became a mother to them all. She took the time to make sure that they were eating their fruits and vegetables and she reminded them of holidays like mothers day and fathers day. My parents tried to create a family atmosphere for them, so they wouldn’t miss their family quite so badly. They loved supporting their students so much they started delivering to the students so that they knew they were getting proper nutrition while they were studying. These students meant so much to them that they did this at their cost, because they loved them and supported them through happy times and sad times. It wasn’t about making a profit off of them.

They were finally where they wanted to be, and then Hurricane Irma came along and devastated the island. My parents miraculously survived in their apartment, an impressive feat considering the top two floors above them were ripped away. Once the storm had passed, they surfaced to find complete destruction to everything they knew and loved. Unbeknownst to them, the students had sent out a search party to look for them. Despite all that had happened, they were still going out of their way to help the people they cared about. They helped rescue a local that was trapped in his apartment by his collapsed roof. They donated all of the food, and drinks, they had to the medical college for the students and dug the propane gas tanks out of the rubble, so they could continue to provide for the students.

My parents have always taught me, that you have to work for everything in life that you want, and everything you want, you can achieve by going out and working for it if you just try hard enough. Which is the same attribute they saw in all of their island children. I was lucky enough to go and see them in April, and saw how hard they were working, but also saw how truly happy they were, which really hit home for me. All of my life they’ve been working their butts off and I finally had a picture of the end goal.

 Please, if you are able, help my parents get back home to their Green Monkey Bar and Grill. They want to be there for their island kids more than anything, and I couldn’t think of two more deserving people in this world.