The story behind our Grenada Breeze tea.
A Texas boy and an island girl walk into a chatroom.
A story beginning with that line could end a million different ways. Phil could’ve been annoyed that our cultures were so different and called it quits early on. I could’ve been afraid to marry into a non-Black family (given America’s insane history etc etc etc). We could’ve varied on the political spectrum enough to break us apart. He could’ve hated oil down. I could’ve been allergic to tequila. There were so many places where our story could’ve deteriorated but it didn’t. And the strength of our bond was proven in Grenada.
I spent the first 19 years of my life in Grenada and I’ll spend the rest of my time in America thinking about it. It’s the place where I discovered who I was. The place I met my siblings, friends, my first community. And it’s the place where I met God for the first time. There are secrets I’ve buried in corners of the island that the soil and trees will keep for me. There are tastes and smells there that fill me with a sense of purpose and vitality that I don’t feel anywhere else. And when the sand scrubs away at my legs and the oceans water laps up against my body, I feel like the cares of the world have vanished forever.
When Phil and I met, deep down I think we both knew we’d be together forever. But I never expected us to get married before he visited Grenada. In fact, we tried to get him there before the wedding because, until he visited, I knew he didn’t fully know me. But it didn’t work out that way. We visited home for our official honeymoon.
I remember seeing a part of him come alive when we stepped off the plane. A familiar sight for me, the sharpness of the colors filled him, surrounded him. He was in awe. And that awe grew.
A Texas boy and an island girl walk into a chatroom.
They had plenty of differences. But the Texas boy had a depth to him that the girl had been looking for. And the girl was eager to show him paradise, a place where he could be and feel so free. Grenada 2017 was a cultural awakening for us both. Almost immediately, Phil embraced the island. He wanted to try every food, every drink, and was willing to experience anything put in front of him. He braved the heat and the mosquitos in pursuit of the woman he loved, and she saw that.
Most Americans think that Grenada is similar to the states—it’s hard to imagine a world that doesn’t follow the same rules of the road you’ve always known. The truth is, there’s almost nothing culturally similar between the two countries. So to see Phil fall madly in love with Grenada was to see him stretch but not break.
And God knew that this kind of man was both rare and perfect for the girl.
Our honeymoon was filled with food, discomforts navigating a “new” place together, and finding our footing as husband and wife. And the Island Breeze tea brings us back there in a heartbeat. Passion fruit. Pineapple. Coconut. Swirls and swirls of flavors and memories and smells and sights cascading until it all disappears into a single point, the place where the yellow and green triangles of the flag come to a star.
Photo credit: Philip Adcock Photography l Photo of: Pearl's Airstrip, St. Andrew, Grenada