The Isles of Capri had a jam-packed Christmas season with events and decorating. The annual Christmas party began at 6 PM on December 16th at the community center with a pot luck meal and lots of conversation. It was a time to reconnect with all of those who were returning to the Isles.

Ted Decker, president of Capri Community Inc, announced the names of the white elephant gift exchange and each person selected a gift.

Capri boat parade was one of the best with 15 boats decorated stem to stern. With the new rules the boats had to be decorated on all sides and do a 360 in front of the judges. The parade was led by Capri Fire Boat with boat parade coordinator Chuck Walton’s Rebound, next (awarded the spirit award). San Juan Special owned by Ted Decker, Life Is Good by John DeMarco, Cocktail Hour by Skip Lakey, Miss Lina by Stew Blakely and a boat by Scott and Sean Hurly were in the parade.

In addition Judy Ann, owned by John Vosika and Bikini Tini, Mike Kochis’ boat. John Roger’s Sasha was awarded “the Legends of Capri award” by the judges for always having an outstanding boat.

Gem Remotes by Richard Shanahan was followed by Mike Cox’s Pago Pirate. Nameless was Henry Fletcher’s boat. The best overall boat was awarded to Christopher Kringles captained by Justin Hanna depicting Santa riding a huge dragon and lending support to Chief Rod. Sea Tow was last. Boat US left the parade to take a call from a stranded boat off Keywaden Island.

It was difficult to ascertain who had the most fun, the boaters or the audience along the water ways with parties everywhere. All agreed the parade was the best ever.

Capri streets are lined with bright house decorations. All decorated houses were included in the judging.

The golf cart parade organized by Debbie O’Dean found a dozen participants. The one hour parade covered all the streets on island one, then through the business district and on to island two. After that it was off to Pelican St and the rest of Capri.

January Calendar 

• Bocce starts January 9th with captains meeting at 9.
• General Meeting January 10, dues are due.
• Board meeting 5 PM January 24.
• Pot Luck Supper January 24 at 6 PM
• All Island Yard Sale January 28, (rain date 29) 9 to 2.

Check the bulletin board for times and dates of bridge, Mah Jongg, and exercise classes.

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We have all heard that most accidents happen at home. So do many crimes happen at the home.

On March 30th Connie Ledbetter, Crime Prevention Practitioner, who is also trained in ID theft, told Isles of Capri residents to take control of their safety. “Keep your home safe” is the motto of the Collier Country Sheriff’s office. Connie Ledbetter explained that a home burglary takes about three minutes.

She asked the audience questions. Where would the person look first for valuables and what would he or she take?

We got the first one right, money and jewelry on the master bedroom dresser. We missed the second one, prescription drugs in the medicine cabinet. Electronics are third.

What to do? Put your money, jewelry and prescriptions in a more secure, less obvious place.

She offered other suggestions starting with the free home security evaluation. Connie Ledbetter explained that she, as a certified Crime Prevention Practitioner, can come to your home and make suggestion on how to make your home safe. She would look at windows, doors, locks, lighting, valuables sitting out, and make suggestions. Call 239 252 0711 for an evaluation.

If you take pictures of the jewelry and valuables along with electronic registration numbers, a police report can be more complete and your stolen items easier to identify. The officer would know exactly what the ring or other item looks like. Keep a copy in the safety deposit box.

Left to right: Kevin Martin, Connie Ledbetter, Lindsay Martin, Deputy Billy Pschigoda. The safety meeting was organized by the Martins. Submitted photos

Your car. Keep it locked. Keep valuables and your identification out of the car.“Do you have to have the registration in the glove compartment where it is easy to find?” she asked. “No, you just have to have it available to show an officer who asks for it.”

Your home address is on the registration, the garage door remote and the car GPS are in the car, the car is unlocked, and you are shopping. The bad guys have easy access to your home. Lock and hide these things.

Do not carry social security cards and unnecessary credit cards shopping. Do make a photo copy of all the things in your wallet in case of a theft.

In the community, if you see something suspicious, “See it, say it, and make the call.” If the situation doesn’t feel right call it in. For an emergency call 911; for non-emergency 239- 252-9300.

Another program offered by the sheriff’s office is Code Red, which keeps citizens informed. You can link on to this at www.colliersheriff.org. The notification alerts on everything from evacuation notices or other information about public safety.

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Jeremiah Eliason. Submitted photo

When Val, my most charming publisher, asked me to write about a lawyer who lives on the Isle of Capri, named Jeremiah Eliason, I was, to put it mildly, underwhelmed. Yet, true to Val’s uncanny ability to smell a good story, I could not get enough of this young man.

“I have always wanted to be a lawyer,” Jeremiah told me. “Even from a young age, I felt that I had the knack for systems of governance and order, and the law is where the rubber meets the road in our free society. It was also important for me to achieve to where I knew that the top of my abilities could be used to help others.”

Jeremiah grew up in Beloit, Wisconsin. His mom was a Registered Nurse. Dad was a construction worker and later became a housing inspector for the city. His parents always pushed hard work and strong community ties as part of the family culture. In this case, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Respect and helping people is the mantra of this new young family. Jeremiah and his lovely wife, Stephanie, are regular church goers and active in local charitable organizations, such as the Rotary Club of Marco Island and the Marco chapter of the American Cancer Society

Jeremiah’s “other background” is, however, making his practice increasingly popular in Southwest Florida. People are attracted to him not only for his legal prowess but also because of his three dimensional, holistic world view. He is one of the nicest, smartest, kindest lawyers you will ever meet. He exudes empathy. His legal adversaries may be surprised by this as his legal skills are not to be taken lightly and he champions his clients’ positions with zeal. Back to his story, we will start with his early education.

His elementary school, each year, made greeting cards for those in the nursing home across the street from the school. Little Jeremiah made his card and was to deliver the card to an assigned elderly woman. Maybe he didn’t listen very well, or maybe there was something of foreshadowing happening but he didn’t just deliver the card—he stayed and talked with the woman. He asked her questions about all the people in the photos on her nightstand. The intercom came on after a while, “Jeremiah Eliason please report to the main desk!” Dutifully, he said his goodbyes and went down the hall where all the other kids buzzed about. The teachers were relieved! Oh, they thought they had lost him outside somewhere on the way to the nursing home; why, on earth, was he gone so very long?

The thing is, he had an innate sense of caring. His respect for others, especially elders carries over into his practice. When he sits with a client he is, above all, a great listener. Jeremiah is actually interested in his clients. His empathy is not feigned or an act. He really cares.

Let’s fast forward to his college days. He wasn’t so sure college was the thing for him and only went because his parents begged him to. After one year of working forty hours as a janitor at the student union to pay for rent and food, and pulling nearly straight A’s, he was already done. He took off to England where he landed a job on the floor of a plastics factory in Portsmouth. There he saved some money and traveled around Europe. The next year he was back in college at Wisconsin-Madison where he finished up a double major in Political Science and International Relations.

Thereafter, perhaps bored again, he joined the Peace Corps. This was no flash in the pan, however, the commitment is a three-month training program in the country of service and then a two-year “up-county” assignment. He served first in Cote d’Ivoire until a civil war broke out and he was forced from the country. He holed up in Ghana with other volunteers until he was given the option to go home or go on to another county. He asked to go on, was assigned to Madagascar, and within a week there he was. In both countries he initiated and carried out projects to upgrade hygienic facilities and reduce the incidence of preventable disease by providing clean sources of water. He also reorganized accounting and collection systems of local organizations to maintain such facilities and worked in local schools,

Of course, being overseas in a Peace Corps assignment doesn’t come without a few great stories. My favorite is the time Jeremiah was organizing a community to dig a well when one village faction demanded he stop – the end of AK-47’s barrel. It all worked out in the end, as it was explained the gods placed noxious and sometimes deadly gas in the ground so digging was forbidden. Our new home-town hero listened and discussed and checked his own facts until he figured a venting system out. The well was dug, a local organization collected a small fee per bucket of water for upkeep, and according to letters Jeremiah exchanges with the local chief, the well is still there despite all the recent upheaval in that country.

Returning to the US, Jeremiah got a job with – whom else? – but the Peace Corps. He rose quickly from data base entry to the Special Assistant to the Director of Volunteer Recruitment and Selection. Among his many duties were authoring policy proposals, analytical reports, executive briefing materials, and strategy statements. He served on various agency task forces to further develop agency policy, establish accountability practices, develop training exercises, and ensure compliance to federal regulations.

During his time working in DC for the Peace Corps, he pursued his childhood dream of being a lawyer by attending evening classes after work. For four years he pursued this course, was awarded with his juris doctor, moved to Florida, and passed the bar in one shot. Jeremiah has also volunteered for many local environmental cleanup efforts, his church’s activities, and Habitat for Humanity. He has also worked as a judicial Clerk in the Circuit Court of Maryland, the Columbus Community Legal Services (Washington DC) as a Student Attorney in the Elder Law Division, and the Commodities Future Trading Commission where he would listen to wiretaps of those suspected of manipulating the markets.

Jeremiah and Stephanie are expecting their first child and are part of a new breed of young people coming to the Island. They recognize that this is truly paradise and wouldn’t be anywhere else. Pretty smart I would say.

Jeremiah’s offices are located in the Sun Trust Building in Marco and he can be reached at (239) 394-5357.

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Bud working the annual Poppy drive.

The Greatest Generation includes Anthony “Bud” La Mendola who enlisted in the Navy in 1943 at seventeen years of age. Because of a sense of patriotism, Bud asked his dad if he could join before his eighteenth birthday. Being a kid and never really having been anywhere, Bud was ready for some adventure in his life. He went to Navy boot camp in Idaho which, ironically, had only one lake.

“What was boot camp like?” I asked Bud.  “A lot of rules,” he replied.

He spoke of his Barracks Commander who was nice, but very strict. If you got out of line, for instance, if your bed wasn’t made tight enough to bounce a dime, or if your clothes were not rolled in the precise, requisite way, you were punished with Holy Stoning. This was a stone that you would use to scrub the concrete floors in the barracks—on your knees. Hence, the word “holy.”

Bud rose at four in the morning. There would be one hour of calisthenics. One day a week he would work in the mess hall scrubbing pots and pans. Eight-man row boats would go out on the lake to build endurance. Bud already knew how to swim. However if you did not, you had to learn to swim at least 50 yards. Boot campers had to learn to take off their pants in the water, tie the leg holes, and make a life jacket. Everyone had to learn to jump 30 feet into a pool. This was the distance from the deck of the destroyer to the water if you had to jump overboard. Then Bud would go to the rifle range where he was allowed 15 shots and remarkably would hit the bull’s eye 14 times!

Bud with his wife Ruth.

During the thirteen weeks of boot camp, Bud, like everyone else, had no idea where they would be stationed or what their duties would be. While in school in Chicago, Bud had worked in the electrical shop so he took six weeks of electrical training after boot camp. Sadly, Bud recalls, it was in the same darn town.

After boot camp in early 1944, Bud was assigned to a destroyer, the USS Robinson DD562, where he served until June, 1946. His rating was EM 2/C (Electricians Mate Second Class.) USS Robinson was in combat at Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Peleliu, Leyte, Mindoro, Lugayen, Mindanao, the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea, and Borneo in the Pacific Theater in World War II.

During the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea, the USS Robinson made a torpedo run on the Japanese battleship Yamashiro in the Surigoa Straights, and was credited with two hits. It was later determined that the Yamashiro sank along with two other battleships, four cruisers, and seven destroyers. After Borneo and at the end of the war, the Robinson went to Okinawa and then assisted in minesweeping operations at the mouth of the Yangtze River on the China Coast.

Bud was honorably discharged in 1946 and, upon returning home, met Ruth Olson. They dated for two years and were married in July 1948. Bud worked for Automatic Electric in Northlake, Illinois, for thirty years, ending up as manager of the Industrial Engineering Department.

Bud and “beautiful” Ruth moved from Addison, Illinois, their home of twenty years, to Isles of Capri in June 1978. They have one son in Illinois and one daughter in Arkansas. Bud is an active member in Post 6370. He’s a great cook too. Bud is a great storyteller. He told me of the time he was fixing a walk-in cooler on the Robinson. His assistant told Bud that he had shut off the breakers. He had not. Bud got knocked out by four hundred and forty volts of current!

Bud used to do extra duty on board by showing movies. He got paid fifty cents for this. He was playing a movie in the mess hall when the amplifier on the projector had a short which knocked him out. His ship mates wanted him to continue the movie after he came around. He said, “No way!” The projector weighed two hundred pounds. Ship mates would always help him set up the projector. However once the movie ended, everyone would vanish. One night when Bud was playing a movie (which had eight reels) he stopped and said he wasn’t going to show the end of the movie unless he had help taking down the projector when the movie was over. Not surprisingly, he received plenty of help.

I asked Bud, “Did you ever get shore leave?” He laughed and replied, “We got two cans of hot, near-beer (3.2 alcohol content) on a hot island for an hour. That was it.”

Bud can be found most days hanging out at The Island Market across the street from his home in Tarpon Village. Bud, along with his brother and brother-in-law, actually formed a corporation. They gave “Doc” Loach a check for $30,000 dollars which was the inception of the 56-unit Tarpon Village.

As a young EM 2/C, Bud ran the show, literally.

As I already mentioned, Bud is a great cook. He appreciates good food. His favorite restaurant used to be Jim and Eddie’s here on the island. Bud is like a bottomless cup of coffee. He has more fascinating stories that just keep getting better and better. We talked of the time when Ruth and he were newly married and were living in a rooming house. He had me doubled over in laughter as he told me about the incessant roaches who also resided there, along with “working girls” who lived in the basement.

More to come on Bud. He is an endless resource about the Isles of Capri, in addition to being a decorated war veteran. Most importantly, Bud and his sweetheart wife, Ruth, are the nicest people you will ever meet.

For more information about the USS Robinson, go to www.ussrobinson.org/Star_Four.htm. I read around fifty pages about this ship. Really fascinating!

Michael Yergin is a nationally known happiness guru, relationship and positive psychology expert, management consultant and life coach. He has been featured in Time, Fortune,  Money Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, CNBC and WGN-TV as well as hundreds of radio stations. Visit his website at www.michael yergin.tv.

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Dan Dilisio with Henry Lowe, right. Photo by Michael Yergin

When I sat down with Henry Lowe, owner of Lowe’s Boat and Yacht Brokerage, at 278-B Capri Blvd. in Isles of Capri, I was totally mesmerized. Henry has that effect on people. A very good looking man with huge blue eyes and rugged Hemingway-esque features, he looks like a movie star. When you talk to him he draws you in with his big smile and plain old-fashioned charm. Henry is a good listener. However, he is a better story teller. You can see it in his eyes. He listens to my questions thoughtfully before answering. He is a minimalist. He doesn’t waste words. His stories are fascinating. And for good reason.

Henry has lived here seventy-one years. Growing up on Marco Island he recounts stories about how there was no electricity and no plumbing there. He moved to Naples for a while from an island of 250 people to the “big” community of thirty-four hundred people in Collier County. He has this infectious smile as he quips, “It was the first time I ever saw flush toilets and electric lights.”

“What was it like growing up as a kid here,” I asked. “Wonderful,” he replies smiling. “There were no rules. Just be in by dark. We didn’t get in trouble. Respect was the underlying theme in everything. Respect yourself, your parents, but more importantly, respect and appreciate the environment, and simply be in awe of this tropical paradise.”

Henry with a few spec sheets on available boats. Photo by Michael Yergin

Seventy-one years later, Henry has never lost sight of what life is really all about. Henry is kind, God fearing, and a natural born humorist, who not only goes with the flow, but is part of the flow, like the moon and tides. He truly walks the walk. Even though he has been in the boat business for more than half a century, he doesn’t consider what he does work. “It’s fun,” smiles Henry.

Henry likes people. He is always there to lend a hand. Years ago, when Civil Air Patrol spotted a capsized boat in the pass, they called Henry. Immediately, Henry rescued two people and saved their lives. However, he is extremely modest. “Glad I could help,” he told me.

Not only is Henry a great listener but he is also a wonderful story teller.

“Have you ever considered writing a book?” I asked.

“Not yet, because there are so many great stories, I wouldn’t know where to begin,” replied Henry.

He told me about when they were shooting the movie, Gone Fishing, with Danny Glover and Joe Pesci. Henry and his wife were extras in the movie. However, the back story is sad, but more interesting. Henry had supplied some of the boats for the shoot. He met the stunt man and recalls, “He may have been a good stunt man, but I could tell he did not understand boats.”Horribly, someone was killed during a stunt.” Henry walked away with only a minor scratch.

Henry’s family worked for the Barfield family, who were bee pollinators. The bees wax was vital to the war effort. After wax or paraffin was manufactured artificially, the bee business died (no pun intended).

Dan Dilisio (L) enjoys working with Henry Lowe. Photo by Michael Yergin

Henry showed me the plans and the ship he had built, The Big Dipper, which looked like a floating city. Dan Dilisio, has worked for Henry at both his Isles of Capri location and his Naples location and loves his boss. I actually caught Henry blushing as Dan praised Henry about how great it is to be a part of his team. Henry sells and brokers boats and yachts all over the world. He tries to educate people on what they are going to purchase. Sometimes people come in thinking that they know what they want.

“I know that it is not the right boat for them. So I talk to them and let it seem like it is their idea to sometimes be more realistic in their goals and expectations. I want people to be happy, not just sell them a boat.”

That is why most of Henry’s business comes from referrals. He is the man to go to that people trust. I asked Henry what it’s like since he moved his business to The Isles of Capri. “Really great,” he says. “Although I loved my location on Marco, it was a lot different. I was in a building with doctors, lawyers, accountants. Nice people, but they were kind of serious. Here on the island everybody is always smiling, waving at each other. Everyone is always happy and having fun. I love it here.”

I had scheduled a half-hour interview with Henry. We spoke for almost two hours. I expect to grab Henry again. I feel I have barely scratched the surface with this fascinating guy. C’mon? Seventy-one years here. Imagine all the stories!

Henry knows where all the skeletons are too. We talked off the record briefly. “If I can’t say something good about someone then I have nothing to say.”

That’s what I call class. Henry can be reached at 239-642-3439 Better yet, stop in and see him at his new location at 278-B Capri Blvd. on The Isles of Capri. Welcome Henry. We are glad you are here.

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Beau Middlebrook with a tarpon. Photo by Angela Reynoso

Do you remember the opening of The Andy Griffith Show where nine-year-old Ronnie Howard is walking with a fishing pole over his shoulder down a country road? Over twenty-five years ago Beau Middlebrook, being the only child on the Isles of Capri, was doing the same thing. The only difference was that Howard had that infamous red hair; Beau’s was blond. Unless you have been living under a rock or in a hole like Saddam Hussein did, if you live on Isles of Capri you know who Beau is. One has only to drive down any street on the Island to see that most of the homes for sale are listed with Beau and the company he owns, Island View Team at 322 Capri Blvd. Beau has a long and interesting past. His parents, Christopher and Susan, started Christopher Realty. Beau recalls vividly “hanging out” all day with his parents at their real estate company for twenty years, ten hours a day, seven days a week. “There were no other kids on the island to play with,” quipped Beau. His dad was fire chief for twenty years on the island. Sometimes his father would even let him ride on the fire truck. However, it was not always only real estate for Beau. As a youngster, he worked as a busboy at Pelican Bend, which his aunt owned on the island. He was a dishwasher for Peter and Cookie Thorpe when they owned the Island Galley. Later it became a barbeque joint known as Bucket of Bones and then, finally, Capri Fish House. He was a busboy at Bubs, and Backwater Nicks. He worked at The Blue Heron. Actually, he has worked at every restaurant on the island.

Beau is one of those people like Sara Lee. There is no one that doesn’t like him. As a child on the island he was (and is) loved by all residents who treat him like a son or grandson. “It felt like I had the biggest family in the world,” recalls Beau. “Everyone played with me and gave me a lot of love.” “There was one negative, though,” recalls Beau smiling. “If something bad happened on the island, being the only kid here, I would sometimes get blamed for something I didn’t do.”

What is most evident about Beau is that he is very comfortable in his own skin. He exudes happiness and is eternally grateful. “C’mon,” he says, “I grew up in paradise. I live in paradise. I love what I do.” He considers his work – play. “I have been to almost every house on the island. When I show a house it’s like I am just visiting my friends.” If someone is sick he brings them chicken soup. Beau is the unofficial “Chamber of Commerce” for The Isles of Capri. “People call me from all over the world asking me questions like, ‘What’s the fishing like?’”  On the island he will get calls in the middle of the night. “There is a snake in my pool.” “There is a frog in my toilet.” “There is a leak in my roof.” “Can you come over? I can’t get my boat started” or “I am out of gas.” Beau, like the motor club, always comes.

Beau shared with me story after story. I told him that he should write a book like his grandmother, who writes cookbooks for sale here on the island. A poignant recollection for Beau was of an event that happened in the spring of 1985. Beau told me, “I remember I was getting ready for school, and my father getting a phone call.  Next thing I know he jumped out of bed yelled to my mom to grab me and get to the boat immediately.  I had no idea what was going on, until we were in the boat and underway. My dad said that a pod of about a hundred pilot whales were beaching themselves in the Marco river, Coconut Island, and Keywaden Island. My mom and I took care of a whale marked #6.”  We spent hours with it, pouring water on it and keeping it afloat until it was the whale’s turn to be taken out to sea again. While we did that, my father took out a news crew so they could report with actual video footage what was going on. The marine biologist said most likely the leader of the pod was sick and beached itself while the rest of the pod followed suit.  I know that most of the whales that we sent back into the Gulf beached themselves again around Fort Myers this time, and most died, including #6.”

On a happier occasion, Beau spent the day, along with other island residents, getting certified at the fire station for CPR. People would practice on the dummy. First checking for a pulse, than clearing the mouth for unobstructed breathing, than mouth to mouth. A couple of guys at the Fire Department decided to have a little fun. They took the suit and mask off the dummy and put it on a real live person. The women would be practicing on what they assumed was the dummy. When they gave mouth to mouth the person would give them a big kiss. Obviously some of the women almost had heart attacks. I would have given anything to be a fly on the wall and watch the uproarious laughter. Isle of Capri is unique in that everybody is a good neighbor. Beau recalled in 2005, when Hurricane Wilma hit, somehow, everybody helped one another.

Of course, you don’t live on the Isles of Capri unless you fish, and Beau is an avid fisherman. He also has Dive Master License Certification. He is very involved with residents on the island to lobby the Navy to provide a final resting place for the retired guided missile frigate, USS George Philip. The commissioners of Collier county are all in favor of the project, led in part by Pamela Keyes, Environmental Specialist Coastal Zone Management. As an artificial reef, the ship will contribute to stable, long-term habitat for scores of marine fish species in the Gulf of Mexico. This project will divert fishing and diving pressure away from natural reefs, provide increased tourism expenditures in Collier County, and present an opportunity to preserve the legacy of the many sons and daughters of Collier County who gave their lives in pursuit of freedom for all. Beau is one of the island’s natural resources. He even gave me some interesting trivia. Did you know that Elkcam Drive in Marco is Mackle spelled backwards. If you want to tap into Beau’s great stories, call him at 239-642-4000. If he doesn’t know the answer, there probably isn’t one. Beau is another resident of Isles of Capri, who through his kindness and wealth of information, continues to make the Isles of Capri a very special part of paradise.

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Fast forward to seven years ago when I moved my dad to Naples and opened an office on Fifth Avenue South. I had a lot of clients from Chicago and New York who had moved here. They asked if I would open an office here to serve them. I was living in Chicago and spent my winters in Scottsdale, Arizona. My role as a counselor, consultant, and  marriage/relationship counselor fortunately let me be wherever I wanted.

And yes, I love it here in paradise. Manatees, dolphins, playing at my dock with the tarpon, snook, barracuda, snapper, and grouper swimming as I gaze at the pelicans and ospreys amidst the gorgeous waterscape. Recently I met a woman at one of the Isles’ favorite places to view the sunset. She was taking pictures, then clapping as the sun set in all its polychromatic splendor.

“You must be visiting,” I queried. “No, she replied, I have lived here forty years and I clap every night watching the miraculous sunset.”

As it happens, a retired New Jersey cop turned me on to the Isles of Capri: I met Jerry (not his real name) in downtown Naples at my favorite hang-out on Fifth Avenue South, He explained that his girlfriend and he were always fighting and could I counsel them. Sure, I said. He seemed nice enough. He asked me to meet him and his girlfriend at their home in Isles of Capri. “No problem,” I replied, “but where is Isles of Capri?”

I had never heard of it. Although Jerry gave me explicit directions, I am geographically impaired and, once on the island, as I approached downtown I got lost. However, I could hear in the distance two people loudly screaming at each other. I quickly found Jerry and his girlfriend!

I have one role when I counsel people, I gently informed them. No one is allowed to assign blame. “Yea, but she is always…” I cut Jerry off. “No finger pointing,” I said. “But he is always,” Jerry’s girlfriend intoned and I likewise reminded her about my rule. They sat for a half hour in silence, much to the delight of their neighbors, I’m sure. Finally, they started talking. It was obvious they were deeply in love. I told them we would have another session tomorrow afternoon.

Michael Yergin

When I drove back to the island the next day, I was at once struck by the beauty of this verdant tropical paradise. We had another session. I pointed out the obvious to them. “Look where you live, and stop to smell the roses.” They were married a month later. I firmly believe the charm of this Mayberry R.F.D. town is what saved their relationship. There is an ambiance and charm to the Isles, like a Leave it to Beaver atmosphere, from twenty years ago that truly makes Isles of Capri paradise. I am grateful every day to be a part if this wonderful island.

Michael Yergin is a nationally known happiness guru, relationship and positive psychology expert, management consultant, entrepreneur, and life coach. He has been featured in Time, Fortune, Money Magazine, the Chicago Tribune, CNN (Italy), CNBC, and WGN TV, and hundreds of radio stations. He has lectured to high-level U.S. government officials and Fortune 500 companies. Yergin is the author of four books, including Wealth Building in the 90’s. Visit his web site at www.michelyergin.tv.

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